House Bill 9377

    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9377

        By Representative Futch






  1                         House Resolution

  2         A resolution designating April 14, 1998, as

  3         Spaceport Florida Day.

  4

  5         WHEREAS, Launch Complex 46, which is operated by

  6  Spaceport Florida Authority, is the nation's first

  7  state-managed launch complex facility, and

  8         WHEREAS, Spaceport Florida Authority operates the

  9  facility in cooperation with the Navy and Air Force, with a

10  license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, and

11         WHEREAS, Spaceport Florida Authority converted Launch

12  Complex 46, located on Cape Canaveral Air Station, to give

13  Lockheed Martin and other launch companies a facility to

14  launch a new class of rockets designed to carry a new

15  generation of smaller, lighter, and cheaper satellites that

16  can be deployed to orbit Earth or beyond, and

17         WHEREAS, the Lockheed Martin Astronautics Athena II

18  rocket was launched successfully on January 6, 1998, from

19  Launch Complex 46, and

20         WHEREAS, the Lunar Prospector, the third flight in

21  NASA's Discovery Program, was carried into orbit atop the

22  Athena II rocket, and

23         WHEREAS, this successful launch and mission is a joint

24  effort between NASA's Ames Research Center, which is managing

25  the mission, Lockheed Martin Aerospace, which built the Athena

26  II launch vehicle, Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, which

27  built the spacecraft, and the Spaceport Florida Authority, and

28         WHEREAS, the Lunar Prospector traveled approximately

29  240,250 miles to the Moon in only 124 hours, and will orbit 63

30  miles above the surface of the Moon once every 118 minutes at

31  a speed of 3,668 miles per hour, and

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1998                HR 9377

    531-155A-98






  1         WHEREAS, the Lunar Prospector's year-long mission is to

  2  map the surface of the Moon using various scientific

  3  instruments, and

  4         WHEREAS, high school students in Florida and around the

  5  nation will gather and analyze the lunar data via Internet

  6  connections to NASA's Deep Space Network of antennas and

  7  ground stations, and

  8         WHEREAS, NASA will assemble the information for future

  9  lunar exploration, including a possible human outpost on the

10  Moon, and

11         WHEREAS, it is fitting and appropriate that the

12  citizens of the State of Florida be reminded of the tremendous

13  contributions in the area of space exploration and research

14  that are made possible through the efforts of Spaceport

15  Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,

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17  Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of

18  Florida:

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20         That the House of Representatives of the State of

21  Florida designates April 14, 1998, as Spaceport Florida Day,

22  in recognition of Spaceport Florida's contributions to space

23  exploration and research.

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