Bill Text: TX HR518 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: In memory of former astronaut Eugene Andrew Cernan of Piney Point Village.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-03-16 - Reported enrolled [HR518 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR518-Introduced.html
Bill Title: In memory of former astronaut Eugene Andrew Cernan of Piney Point Village.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-03-16 - Reported enrolled [HR518 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HR518-Introduced.html
85R7679 BPG-D | ||
By: Cyrier | H.R. No. 518 |
|
||
WHEREAS, The nation lost a pioneer of its space program with | ||
the death of former Apollo 17 commander Eugene Andrew Cernan of | ||
Piney Point Village on January 16, 2017, at the age of 82; and | ||
WHEREAS, Gene Cernan was born in Chicago on March 14, 1934, to | ||
Andrew and Rose Cernan; he entered the Navy ROTC program as a | ||
student at Purdue University, and after receiving his bachelor's | ||
degree in electrical engineering, he became a test pilot and was | ||
assigned to Attack Squadrons 26 and 112 at the Miramar, California, | ||
Naval Air Station; subsequently, he earned his master's degree in | ||
aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School; and | ||
WHEREAS, One of 14 astronauts selected by NASA in 1963, Gene | ||
Cernan piloted the Gemini 9 mission three years later and became the | ||
second American to walk in space; he went on to serve as the lunar | ||
module pilot for the Apollo 10 mission, which descended to within | ||
eight nautical miles of the moon's surface and sent the first live | ||
television pictures from lunar orbit; in 1972, he commanded Apollo | ||
17, the final moon mission, and with his crewmate, spent more than | ||
three days on the lunar surface; they completed three remarkable | ||
excursions to craters and the Taurus-Littrow mountains, collecting | ||
250 pounds of rock and soil samples; when he climbed back into the | ||
module to depart, Captain Cernan became the last human to leave | ||
footprints on the moon, and for the rest of his life, he continued | ||
to advocate powerfully for the renewal of missions to other worlds; | ||
and | ||
WHEREAS, From 1973 until 1976, Captain Cernan assisted in the | ||
development of the joint U.S.-Soviet Union Apollo-Soyuz mission; he | ||
retired in 1976 and became executive vice president of Coral | ||
Petroleum before establishing his own consulting company, the | ||
Cernan Corporation; in addition, he coanchored ABC-TV coverage of | ||
the space shuttle program and served as chair of Johnson | ||
Engineering Corporation; he was inducted into the U.S. Space Hall | ||
of Fame and received a host of other accolades, among them the Navy | ||
Distinguished Flying Cross, an honorary doctorate of engineering | ||
from Purdue University, and the 2016 Neil Armstrong Outstanding | ||
Achievement Award from the National Aviation Hall of Fame; and | ||
WHEREAS, Captain Cernan shared a fulfilling marriage with his | ||
wife, Jan Nanna Cernan, and he was the proud father of Tracy Cernan | ||
Woolie, stepfather of Kelly Nanna Taff and Danielle Nanna Ellis, | ||
and the grandfather of nine; and | ||
WHEREAS, Gene Cernan made lasting contributions to our nation | ||
and to humankind through his historic role in the space program, and | ||
his accomplishments will remain a source of tremendous inspiration | ||
in the years to come; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Eugene Andrew | ||
Cernan and extend sincere condolences to all who mourn his passing; | ||
and, be it further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Gene | ||
Cernan. |