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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The nation lost a pioneer of its space program with |
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| 6 | 7 | | the death of former Apollo 17 commander Eugene Andrew Cernan of |
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| 7 | 8 | | Piney Point Village on January 16, 2017, at the age of 82; and |
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| 8 | 9 | | WHEREAS, Gene Cernan was born in Chicago on March 14, 1934, to |
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| 9 | 10 | | Andrew and Rose Cernan; he entered the Navy ROTC program as a |
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| 10 | 11 | | student at Purdue University, and after receiving his bachelor's |
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| 11 | 12 | | degree in electrical engineering, he became a test pilot and was |
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| 12 | 13 | | assigned to Attack Squadrons 26 and 112 at the Miramar, California, |
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| 13 | 14 | | Naval Air Station; subsequently, he earned his master's degree in |
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| 14 | 15 | | aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School; and |
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| 15 | 16 | | WHEREAS, One of 14 astronauts selected by NASA in 1963, Gene |
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| 16 | 17 | | Cernan piloted the Gemini 9 mission three years later and became the |
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| 17 | 18 | | second American to walk in space; he went on to serve as the lunar |
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| 18 | 19 | | module pilot for the Apollo 10 mission, which descended to within |
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| 19 | 20 | | eight nautical miles of the moon's surface and sent the first live |
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| 20 | 21 | | television pictures from lunar orbit; in 1972, he commanded Apollo |
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| 21 | 22 | | 17, the final moon mission, and with his crewmate, spent more than |
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| 22 | 23 | | three days on the lunar surface; they completed three remarkable |
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| 23 | 24 | | excursions to craters and the Taurus-Littrow mountains, collecting |
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| 24 | 25 | | 250 pounds of rock and soil samples; when he climbed back into the |
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| 25 | 26 | | module to depart, Captain Cernan became the last human to leave |
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| 26 | 27 | | footprints on the moon, and for the rest of his life, he continued |
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| 27 | 28 | | to advocate powerfully for the renewal of missions to other worlds; |
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| 28 | 29 | | and |
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| 29 | 30 | | WHEREAS, From 1973 until 1976, Captain Cernan assisted in the |
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| 30 | 31 | | development of the joint U.S.-Soviet Union Apollo-Soyuz mission; he |
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| 31 | 32 | | retired in 1976 and became executive vice president of Coral |
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| 32 | 33 | | Petroleum before establishing his own consulting company, the |
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| 33 | 34 | | Cernan Corporation; in addition, he coanchored ABC-TV coverage of |
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| 34 | 35 | | the space shuttle program and served as chair of Johnson |
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| 35 | 36 | | Engineering Corporation; he was inducted into the U.S. Space Hall |
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| 36 | 37 | | of Fame and received a host of other accolades, among them the Navy |
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| 37 | 38 | | Distinguished Flying Cross, an honorary doctorate of engineering |
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| 38 | 39 | | from Purdue University, and the 2016 Neil Armstrong Outstanding |
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| 39 | 40 | | Achievement Award from the National Aviation Hall of Fame; and |
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| 40 | 41 | | WHEREAS, Captain Cernan shared a fulfilling marriage with his |
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| 41 | 42 | | wife, Jan Nanna Cernan, and he was the proud father of Tracy Cernan |
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| 42 | 43 | | Woolie, stepfather of Kelly Nanna Taff and Danielle Nanna Ellis, |
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| 43 | 44 | | and the grandfather of nine; and |
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| 44 | 45 | | WHEREAS, Gene Cernan made lasting contributions to our nation |
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| 45 | 46 | | and to humankind through his historic role in the space program, and |
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| 46 | 47 | | his accomplishments will remain a source of tremendous inspiration |
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| 47 | 48 | | in the years to come; now, therefore, be it |
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| 48 | 49 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas |
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| 49 | 50 | | Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Eugene Andrew |
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| 50 | 51 | | Cernan and extend sincere condolences to all who mourn his passing; |
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| 51 | 52 | | and, be it further |
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