IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 117 
Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of humanity’s first landing on the 
Moon, celebrating the success of the United States human space flight 
program, and recognizing the accomplishments of NASA’s human space 
flight centers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2009 
Mr. CULBERSON submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Science and Technology 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of humanity’s first 
landing on the Moon, celebrating the success of the 
United States human space flight program, and recog-
nizing the accomplishments of NASA’s human space 
flight centers. 
Whereas President John F. Kennedy inspired our Nation to 
new heights when he remarked on May 25, 1961, ‘‘I be-
lieve that this Nation should commit itself to achieving 
the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on 
the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No sin-
gle space project in this period will be more impressive 
to mankind, or more important for the long-range explo-
ration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive 
to accomplish’’; 
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•HCON 117 IH 
Whereas the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 
at President Kennedy’s direction, worked diligently to 
land a man on the Moon; 
Whereas the mission of Apollo 11, which departed Earth on 
July 16, 1969, was to perform a manned lunar landing 
and return safely to Earth; 
Whereas Apollo 11’s crew consisted of Commander Neil 
Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Col-
lins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene ‘‘Buzz’’ 
Aldrin, Jr.; 
Whereas, on July 20, 1969, the Lunar Module ‘‘Eagle’’ land-
ed on the surface of the Moon, and Neil A. Armstrong 
took the first steps on the Moon and remarked, ‘‘That’s 
one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind’’; 
Whereas the plaque affixed to the landing gear of the Eagle 
read: ‘‘HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET 
FOOT
UPON
THE
MOON
JULY
1969
A.D. WE
CAME
IN 
PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND’’; 
Whereas the first lunar landing was viewed by millions of 
Americans on television and countless others throughout 
the world; 
Whereas Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent 
more than two hours exploring the surface of the Moon 
performing and setting up experiments to study solar 
wind composition, lunar seismic activity, lunar dust and 
soil mechanics, and lunar field geology, among other 
things; 
Whereas Apollo 11 astronauts returned the first samples 
from another planetary body; these first samples were ba-
salts, dark-colored igneous rocks, and aged 3.7 billion 
years; 
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•HCON 117 IH 
Whereas the science conducted by the Apollo missions pro-
vided scientists around the world with new information 
about Earth’s nearest neighbor, and its discoveries in-
cluded the following: 
(1) The Moon is not a primordial object. It is an 
evolved terrestrial planet with internal zoning similar to 
that of Earth. Before Apollo, the state of the Moon was 
a subject of almost unlimited speculation. 
(2) The Moon is made of rocky material that has 
been variously melted, erupted through volcanoes, and 
crushed by meteorite impacts. 
(3) The Moon is ancient and still preserves an early 
history (the first billion years) that must be common to 
all terrestrial planets. The extensive record of meteorite 
craters on the Moon, when calibrated using absolute ages 
of rock samples, provides a key for unraveling time scales 
for the geologic evolution of Mercury, Venus, and Mars 
based on their individual crater records. Before Apollo, 
the origin of lunar impact craters was not fully under-
stood and the origin of similar craters on Earth was 
highly debated. 
(4) The youngest Moon rocks are virtually as old as 
the oldest Earth rocks. The earliest processes and events 
that probably affected both planetary bodies can now only 
be found on the Moon. Moon rock ages range from about 
3.2 billion years in the maria (dark, low basins) to nearly 
4.6 billion years in the terrae (light, rugged highlands). 
(5) The Moon and Earth are related and formed 
from different proportions of a common reservoir of ma-
terials. 
(6) The Moon is lifeless; it contains no living orga-
nisms, fossils, or native organic compounds. Extensive 
testing revealed no evidence for life, past or present, 
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