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among the lunar samples; even nonbiological organic 
compounds are amazingly absent. Traces can be attrib-
uted to contamination by meteorites. 
(7) All Moon rocks originated through high-tempera-
ture processes with little or no involvement with water. 
They are roughly divisible into three types: basalts, 
anorthosites, and breccias. 
(8) Early in its history, the Moon was melted to 
great depths to form a ‘‘magma ocean’’. The lunar high-
lands contain the remnants of early, low-density rocks 
that floated to the surface of the magma ocean. The 
lunar highlands were formed about 4.4 to 4.6 billion 
years ago by flotation of an early, feldspar-rich crust on 
a magma ocean that covered the Moon to a depth of 
many tens of kilometers or more. 
(9) The lunar magma ocean was followed by a series 
of huge asteroid impacts that created basins which were 
later filled by lava flows. The large, dark basins such as 
Mare Imbrium are gigantic impact craters, formed early 
in lunar history, that were later filled by lava flows about 
3.2 to 3.9 billion years ago. Lunar volcanism occurred 
mostly as lava floods that spread horizontally. Volcanic 
fire fountains produced deposits of orange and emerald- 
green glass beads. 
(10) The Moon is slightly asymmetrical in bulk 
form, possibly as a consequence of its evolution under 
Earth’s gravitational influence. Its crust is thicker on the 
far side, while most volcanic basins—and unusual mass 
concentrations—occur on the near side. 
(11) The surface of the Moon is covered by a rubble 
pile of rock fragments and dust, called the lunar regolith, 
that contains a unique radiation history of the Sun, 
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which is of importance to understanding climate changes 
on Earth; 
Whereas, beyond their scientific achievements, the Apollo 
missions also afforded all the peoples of the world an un-
precedented opportunity to see their home planet as a 
fragile abode of life in the cosmos, contributing to the de-
velopment of the ecology movement; 
Whereas NASA’s rich history of human flight into space con-
tinues today with the Constellation Program, which will 
return American astronauts to the Moon in 2020; 
Whereas Constellation represents the next generation of 
United States human space flight systems, and the con-
tinuation of a strategic national capability; 
Whereas these new expeditions will build upon the science 
and technology of the Apollo Program and NASA’s pio-
neering work in space in the decades since, enabling fu-
ture explorers to stay on the lunar surface for longer 
than was possible in the 1960s and 1970s; 
Whereas lessons learned by these men and women will con-
tinue to expand our knowledge of the Moon and the solar 
system, and inform the development of technologies and 
techniques Americans will use in furthering the reach of 
humans beyond the Earth-Moon system; 
Whereas, on September 19, 1961, Houston was chosen by 
NASA as the site for its Manned Spacecraft Center; 
Whereas beginning with the Gemini 4 mission in 1965 and 
continuing with subsequent missions throughout the 
1960s and 1970s, the Manned Spacecraft Center in 
Houston was central to the operations of human flights 
to space; 
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Whereas the Manned Spacecraft Center played a key role in 
the Apollo Program, providing Mission Control for the 
flights as well as intensive training for the astronauts, 
and engineering development activities that pushed the 
boundary of the state of the art; 
Whereas the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, 
was renamed Johnson Space Center in 1973 and has 
continued to be the operations center of the human space 
flight program through the Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, Space 
Shuttle, and International Space Station programs; 
Whereas Johnson Space Center’s foundation remains its peo-
ple—their talent, vision, and dedication—and the inte-
grated organizational framework composed of the engi-
neers, program managers, astronauts, flight controllers, 
flight surgeons, and scientists; 
Whereas in July 1962 NASA established its Launch Oper-
ations Center on Florida’s east coast, and renamed it in 
late 1963 to honor the President who put America on the 
path to the Moon; 
Whereas NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center has helped 
set the stage for America’s adventure in space for more 
than four decades, serving as the point of departure for 
American human space missions and hundreds of ad-
vanced scientific spacecraft; 
Whereas from the early days of Project Mercury to the Space 
Shuttle and International Space Station, from the 
Hubble Space Telescope to the Mars Exploration Rovers, 
the Center enjoys a rich heritage in its vital role as 
NASA’s processing and launch center; 
Whereas, since its beginning in 1960, Marshall Space Flight 
Center in Huntsville, Alabama, has provided NASA with 
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mission-critical design, development, and integration of 
the launch and space systems required for space oper-
ations, exploration, and scientific missions; 
Whereas Marshall’s legacy in rocket science includes pro-
viding the rockets for the Apollo Program, developing the 
Space Shuttle’s propulsion system, and managing the de-
velopment of Skylab, Spacelab, International Space Sta-
tion nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X- 
ray Observatory, and many scientific instruments; 
Whereas Dr. Wernher von Braun, the first director of 
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala-
bama, and his team of rocket scientists designed the 
mammoth Saturn V rocket that launched humans to the 
Moon; 
Whereas NASA’s Mississippi Test Operations site was estab-
lished to test the engines for the Apollo Program; 
Whereas the facility was renamed in 1988 for Mississippi’s 
Senator John C. Stennis, and is now the Nation’s largest 
rocket engine testing facility; 
Whereas Stennis Space Center tests all the main engines for 
the Space Shuttle and will test the engines for NASA’s 
Constellation Program; 
Whereas NASA’s greatest asset will continue to be its people, 
the thousands of individuals across the country in both 
government and industry who conceive, design, build, op-
erate, and manage an ambitious program of space explo-
ration on behalf of the Nation; 
Whereas this workforce includes about 13,000 employees at 
the Kennedy Space Center, over 15,000 at the Johnson 
Space Center, over 1,600 at the Stennis Space Center, 
and over 7,000 at Marshall Space Flight Center, who 
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make NASA’s achievements possible, and contribute to 
both the local economies of communities around their 
Centers and the national economy as a whole; 
Whereas NASA’s human space flight teams are working to 
transition the Agency from operating the Space Shuttle 
to expanding America’s reach to the Moon, Mars, and be-
yond; and 
Whereas at the same time, the teams are operating and uti-
lizing the International Space Station, the first element 
of which was launched into orbit more than ten years 
ago, so that America can learn what it needs to know 
about long-duration space flight in order to make future 
flights of exploration possible: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That Congress commemorates the 40th Anni-
versary of the first landing on the Moon. 
Æ 
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