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| 3 | 4 | | |
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| 4 | 5 | | R E S O L U T I O N |
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| 5 | 6 | | WHEREAS, Holly Ridings, a native of Amarillo, was named chief |
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| 6 | 7 | | flight director of the National Aeronautics and Space |
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| 7 | 8 | | Administration on September 17, 2018, and she indeed merits special |
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| 8 | 9 | | recognition for receiving this significant honor; and |
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| 9 | 10 | | WHEREAS, Ms. Ridings first got involved in the space program |
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| 10 | 11 | | as a student in 1997, while participating in an initiative at the |
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| 11 | 12 | | Goddard Space Flight Center; later that year, she took a permanent |
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| 12 | 13 | | position at the Johnson Space Center as a United Space Alliance |
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| 13 | 14 | | thermal operations and resource officer; she continued in a similar |
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| 14 | 15 | | role at NASA from 1998 to 2003 and was subsequently promoted to |
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| 15 | 16 | | Space Station Motion Control Systems Group lead; and |
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| 16 | 17 | | WHEREAS, Selected to become a flight director in 2005, |
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| 17 | 18 | | Ms. Ridings has served as the lead flight director for several |
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| 18 | 19 | | crucial missions, including International Space Station Expedition |
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| 19 | 20 | | 16, Space Shuttle Program STS-127, and the first SpaceX Dragon |
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| 20 | 21 | | cargo spacecraft mission to the space station; and |
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| 21 | 22 | | WHEREAS, NASA's first female chief flight director, |
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| 22 | 23 | | Ms. Ridings is responsible for managing 32 flight directors and |
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| 23 | 24 | | trainees at the JSC Mission Control Center; this elite group |
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| 24 | 25 | | oversees all of the agency's human spaceflight missions, such as |
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| 25 | 26 | | ISS missions and Orion missions to the moon and beyond, as well as |
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| 26 | 27 | | the development of the next generation of space vehicles; and |
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| 27 | 28 | | WHEREAS, Ms. Ridings graduated from Tascosa High School as a |
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| 28 | 29 | | member of the Class of 1992 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree |
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| 29 | 30 | | in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University; in February |
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| 30 | 31 | | 2019, she was inducted into the Tascosa High School Hall of Fame; |
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| 31 | 32 | | and |
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| 32 | 33 | | WHEREAS, During her outstanding career with NASA, Holly |
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| 33 | 34 | | Ridings has demonstrated great intelligence, skill, and |
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| 34 | 35 | | determination, and her thoughtful and forward-looking leadership |
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| 35 | 36 | | is certain to be of great benefit to the agency in her role as its |
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| 36 | 37 | | chief flight director; now, therefore, be it |
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| 37 | 38 | | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas |
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| 38 | 39 | | Legislature hereby congratulate Holly Ridings on being named chief |
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| 39 | 40 | | flight director of the National Aeronautics and Space |
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| 40 | 41 | | Administration and extend to her sincere best wishes for continued |
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| 41 | 42 | | success; and, be it further |
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| 42 | 43 | | RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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| 43 | 44 | | prepared for Ms. Ridings as an expression of high regard by the |
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| 44 | 45 | | Texas House of Representatives. |
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