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[Page H4924]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
COMMEMORATING OKLAHOMANS IN SPACE
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Lee of California). The Chair recognizes
the gentlewoman from Oklahoma (Ms. Kendra S. Horn) for 5 minutes.
Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma. Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk
about Oklahomans in space.
Born in Oklahoma's Fifth Congressional District in Shawnee, retired
Air Force Colonel Gordon Cooper was one of the first Mercury
astronauts. In 1962, he served as a backup for the Sigma 7 mission. A
year later, he circled Earth 22 times in the space capsule Faith 7,
completing the sixth and last of the Mercury manned spaceflights.
He also served as a command pilot of Gemini 5 on an 8-day endurance
mission. This not only made him the first person to make two orbital
flights, but he also set an endurance record on this mission of nearly
191 hours.
Before becoming an astronaut with NASA, Colonel Cooper earned a
commission with the U.S. Army in the late 1940s and then transferred to
the Air Force where he received a bachelor of science degree in
aeronautics from the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-
Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
If you visit the National Portrait Gallery in D.C., you will see a
picture of Colonel Cooper as one of NASA's Mercury Seven astronauts. I
am proud to honor his memory, legacy, and history-making achievements
in space.
Madam Speaker, women astronauts from Oklahoma have also made critical
contributions to our Nation's space program. Jerrie Cobb and Shannon
Lucid are two of those pioneers who paved the way in space and
aeronautics.
Cobb is considered one of the most gifted female pilots in history
and a fierce advocate for women astronauts. Born in Norman, Oklahoma,
and a graduate from Oklahoma City's Classen High School, Cobb became
the first woman to fly in the Paris Air Show and was among the first
women certified to be an astronaut as a member of the little-known
Mercury 13 in the early 1960s. She testified before Congress in 1962,
urging lawmakers to allow women to go into space.
{time} 0930
Though she never got to leave the Earth's atmosphere, Cobb helped
pave the way for future generations of women astronauts like fellow
Oklahoman and astronaut, Dr. Shannon Lucid. I pause to honor the memory
of Dr. Cobb today, as she passed away 3 months ago at the age of 88.
Lady astronaut Dr. Shannon Lucid, a Congressional District Five
resident, graduated from Bethany High School. Among the first six women
astronauts selected by NASA, Dr. Lucid became an astronaut in 1979. Not
only did she fly on five spaceflights, she is also the only American
woman to serve aboard the Mir Space Station.
Before Peggy Whitson broke the record of the number of hours in
space, Dr. Lucid set the record with 5,354 hours in space. In December
of 1996, she became the first woman to receive the Congressional Medal
of Honor for her record-breaking service aboard the Mir, and she
retired from NASA in 2012.
Because of the glass ceiling shattered by Jerrie Cobb and Dr. Shannon
Lucid, generations of women can and do now follow in their footsteps.
____________________