Cantwell, Cruz introduce resolution honoring the success of the Artemis II mission
U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a resolution to commemorate the successful Artemis II mission that launched on April 1 and returned astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen safely to Earth on April 10.
The Artemis II mission took humans farther from Earth than ever before when, on April 6, the crew surpassed the record set by Apollo 13 for the farthest distance traveled by astronauts into deep space.
"Congratulations to NASA and the entire Artemis team on an extraordinary mission," Cantwell said in a news release. "The four astronauts who returned safely to Earth on April 10th paved the way not only for a return to the Moon, but for a sustained human presence there. When I spoke with the pilot of the Orion spacecraft, Victor Glover, during the mission, I was struck by his emphasis on the importance of human exploration itself - that there is something uniquely powerful about people going, seeing, learning, and representing all of us. With the support of 41 companies in Washington state, the Artemis II mission met its key objectives and was an absolute success. But beyond the mission's technical achievements, the astronauts also imparted a powerful message about unity and the importance of caring for our shared home planet."
The resolution recognizes and commends the scientists, engineers, support personnel and the hundreds of suppliers that made the success of Artemis II possible and reaffirms the commitment of the United States to continue to lead the way in space exploration and the science that makes such exploration possible, according to the release. The success of the Artemis II mission paves the way for Artemis III, which will test systems for returning humans to the lunar surface when it launches next year.
The full text of the resolution is available at https://tinyurl.com/4bktxuwy.
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