NASA Day

WHEREAS, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, serves as an engine of economic development and the anchor of the aerospace industry in North Alabama, employing nearly 6,000 people, in more than 125 unique and specialized cutting-edge facilities and labs, managing American space launch systems and scientific endeavors, which open vast sources of knowledge of our universe and beyond; and

WHEREAS, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center partners with small businesses across the state of Alabama and the nation, sparking economic growth by obligating significant funds and providing ample opportunities for business development; and

WHEREAS, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center also fosters the tremendous growth of intellectual capital in the state of Alabama by supporting a highly educated workforce with education levels well above national averages, while additionally supporting area educational institutions with significant procurements and grants; and

WHEREAS, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center executes, with distinction, its critical role within NASA for 54 years, by providing the rockets that powered Americans to the moon, developing the propulsion system for the Space Shuttle, developing Skylab, Spacelab, International Space Station nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory and many other scientific instruments; and

WHEREAS, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is currently developing the nation’s next generation launch vehicle, which will reach new heights and open new realms for human exploration and further contributes to the benefit of the nation and all mankind through its leading role in the stewardship of America’s excellence in rocket propulsion technology; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of the state of Alabama are indeed exceedingly proud of the Marshall Space Flight Center’s distinguished achievement and the advances in space exploration and scientific progression it has produced and its unparalleled contributions to the benefit of all mankind:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert Bentley, Governor of Alabama, do hereby proclaim May 3, 2013, as

NASA Day

in the state of Alabama, and recognize the accomplishments of NASA and the Marshall Space Flight Center and the remarkable technical and scientific contributions it has made across our state and across the nation.