California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

House ResolutionNo. 13


Introduced by Assembly Member Hadley

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Lackey)

March 9, 2015


House Resolution No. 13—Relative to California Aerospace Week.

P1    1WHEREAS, The California aerospace industry is a powerful,
2reliable source of employment, innovation, and export income,
3directly employing more than 203,000 people in California and
4supporting more than 511,000 jobs in related fields resulting in
5$2.9 billion in annual state income tax revenues; and

6WHEREAS, The California aerospace industry leads the United
7States in aerospace and defense services, including the design and
8manufacture of aircraft, spacecraft, and commercial satellites, as
9well as a myriad of systems and instruments for search, detection,
10navigation, guidance, and radio and television broadcast and
11wireless communication systems; and

12WHEREAS, California is home to many superb sites of air and
13space activity, including Vandenberg Air Force Base, two Federal
14Aviation Administration-licensed launch sites, the Mojave Air and
15Spaceport, more than 20 astronomical observatories, multiple
16international airports, many important defense aerospace bases,
17and hundreds of business and general aviation airfields; and

18WHEREAS, California is also home to three National
19Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research and
20engineering centers. These centers are recognized as the Ames
21Research Center, the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research
22Center, formerly known as the Dryden Flight Research Center,
23and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The Ames Research
P2    1Center and the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center
2were originally National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
3(NACA) research centers, formerly known as the NACA Ames
4Aeronautical Laboratory and the NACA High-Speed Flight
5Research Station, respectively. March 3, 2015, marks the
6Centennial of the NACA; and

7WHEREAS, California has led the nation in aeronautical firsts
8and California’s aerospace industry produced many of the
9significant and record-breaking aircraft that are now represented
10in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
11The Spirit of St. Louis, which in 1927 made the first solo nonstop
12transatlantic flight from New York to Paris, was designed and built
13in California by Ryan Airlines and made Charles Lindbergh an
14international hero. The Douglas DC-3, recognized as the most
15successful airliner in history, dominating both commercial and
16military air transportation from its introduction in 1935 until after
17World War II, was designed and built in California by the Douglas
18Aircraft Company. The Space Shuttle was designed, built,
19assembled, and tested in California. California is home to Edwards
20Air Force Base, the site of five test flights of the Shuttle Enterprise,
21the landing site of 54 Space Shuttle missions, and the site of the
22199 X-15 missions; and

23WHEREAS, Edwards Air Force Base, known for its notable
24aeronautical achievements, was the location of many first flights
25of American aircraft, shuttles, and experimental jets flown from
26Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert of Kern County. America’s
27first jet, XP-59A, was first flown in California. General Charles
28“Chuck” Yeager made world history in California on October 14,
291947, when he became the first man to fly Mach 1, faster than the
30speed of sound, while piloting the Bell X-1 rocket plane. The rocket
31powered X-15, flown by former State Senator William J. “Pete”
32Knight, attained a speed of Mach 6.7 (4,520 miles per hour), a
33speed that remains, to this day, the highest ever attained in a
34manned aircraft. The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft
35to fly around the world without stopping or refueling; and

36WHEREAS, California has led the nation in firsts in human
37space exploration, including the manufacture of the Apollo 11
38command module that carried the first humans to the surface of
39our moon; the manufacture and landing of the Space Shuttle
40orbiters, the first reusable space vehicles, which include the
P3    1Endeavour, on display at the California Science Center; and the
2manufacture and recovery of the SpaceX Dragon capsule and
3Falcon launch vehicle, the first privately funded space exploration
4system. SpaceShipOne, winner of the $10 million Ansari X Prize,
5the Collier Trophy in 2004, and the National Air and Space
6Museum Trophy, was designed, built, and flown in Mojave,
7California. SpaceShipOne produced the first commercial astronaut,
8Mike Melvill, who was the pilot for SpaceShipOne’s first
9spaceflight on June 21, 2004, which was the first privately funded
10human spaceflight mission to reach space; and

11WHEREAS, California has led the nation in firsts in robotic
12space exploration, including the Explorer 1 Earth observation
13satellite as America’s first successful spacecraft, the Mariner 2 as
14the first spacecraft to explore another planet, the Viking landers
15as the first spacecrafts to perform experiments on another planet,
16and the development of the Pioneer 10 spacecraft as the first to
17exit our solar system; and

18WHEREAS, Californians, through NASA and JPL, build,
19manage, and operate the majority of the spacecraft exploring our
20solar system, including the most recent Mars Science Laboratory
21“Curiosity,” and those spacecraft exploring other solar systems,
22like the Kepler exoplanet discovery mission, as well as the
23Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which
24has reached full operational capability and now serves as a world
25class observatory, giving scientists an unprecedented view directly
26into the center of our own galaxy. SOFIA administers the Airborne
27Astronomy Ambassadors program for educators who have inspired
28the dreams of California youth; and

29WHEREAS, California aerospace industries assemble the
30legendary Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, build the impressive
31Northrop Grumman Global Hawk Unmanned Aircraft Systems,
32engineer radical new aircraft at the famous Lockheed Martin
33“Skunk Works” Advanced Development Programs facility, and
34create systems that assist and protect members of the United States
35Armed Forces through military communications, situational
36awareness, satellite-guided ordnance, and technologies yet to be
37dreamed of; and

38WHEREAS, California will continue to lead in aerospace
39education, through its superb Science, Technology, Engineering,
40and Mathematics (STEM) education programs and at its
P4    1world-class research universities, and thus will continue to lead
2the world with the innovation that enabled advanced meteorological
3forecasting, the Global Positioning System, NextGen tools for air
4traffic management, green aviation, sophisticated wind tunnels
5and test facilities, and advanced supercomputing and robotics; and

6WHEREAS, The American Institute of Aeronautics and
7Astronautics (AIAA) and the Aerospace States Association (ASA),
8California Chapter, are sponsoring a week of events to highlight
9the contributions of the aerospace community to California; now,
10therefore, be it

11Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the
12Assembly recognizes the contributions of the aerospace industry
13to the history, economy, security, and educational system of
14California, its communities, and its citizens by proclaiming the
15week of March 23, 2015, through March 27, 2015, as California
16Aerospace Week; and be it further

17Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
18of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.



O

    99