Pete Sessions: “I will also be speaking on the topic of the 40th anniversary of NASA, which is today. Mr. President, next month, from…”

“I will also be speaking on the topic of the 40th anniversary of NASA, which is today. Mr. President, next month, from launch pad 39B at Cape Canaveral, the Space Shuttle's main engines will fire up, the solid rocket motors will ignite, and the crew of seven will be sent off into orbit around our home planet. One of those seven will be the distinguished Senator from Ohio. More than 36 years after his first flight, John Glenn will again orbit the earth in a United States spacecraft. I have here a picture of Senator Glenn taken 36 years ago with Dr. Wernher von Braun in Huntsville, Alabama, my home State. They are shown here discussing a proposed lunar landing craft. What an imagination, what a vision, what an exploring capacity they had. Shortly after that first orbital flight, they were already planning a trip to the moon--a vision that many thought could never be achieved and was achieved so successfully. Senator Glenn's remarkable story is a subplot to the remarkable story of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. On October 1, 1958, just six months before the distinguished Senator from Ohio was named as one of the original Mercury astronauts, NASA was born. Today, NASA marks its 40th anniversary of service to this Nation.”