posted 01-02-2013 12:55 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by kr4mula:
Now that this legislation actually is up for a vote, it's pretty much a fait accompli.

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posted 01-03-2013 07:10 AM               

The Senate did not consider on Wednesday HR 6612, a bill to rename NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong. The House passed the bill 404-0 on Monday, but the Senate did not bring the bill up for a vote, or passage by unanimous consent, on either Tuesday or Wednesday. With the Senate adjourned until the 113th Congress convenes for the first time at noon on Thursday, backers will have to start over and reintroduce the bill.

posted 01-03-2013 07:22 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Jim Behling:
Change Marshall Space Flight Center. He had no connection to the space program.

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posted 01-04-2013 12:14 PM               

Here's one idea: Rename the VAB. It's the most prominent building in NASA's inventory, and yet still retains a fairly generic title that it has held for close to 50 years. Call it the Neil Armstrong Vehicle Assembly Building (or something similar).

Wouldn't it be most fitting that the building that assembled the rockets that traveled to the moon be named after the first man who walked on the moon? And hopefully, the building will play a significant role in man's ultimate return to the moon, along with voyages to Mars and other worlds beyond.

posted 01-04-2013 12:56 PM               

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Originally posted by Jay Chladek:
Even though technically it was the first NAMED NASA Center when it was created by the Eisenhower administration when NASA was first chartered?

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posted 01-04-2013 03:59 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
Rename the VAB.

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posted 01-04-2013 04:35 PM               

While he was alive Armstrong's preference was for keeping out of the public spotlight. That being the case, if he is to be truly honored shouldn't we be talking about trying to quelch any moves to name any public facility after him?

posted 01-04-2013 05:33 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by chet:
With the VAB in danger of becoming a ghost building and its demolition possible in the not too distant future...

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posted 01-07-2013 10:53 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by chet:
...it would seem to make sense to name some airport, perhaps Cincinnati's, in Armstrong's "honor"; wasn't aviation his first love anyway?

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posted 01-08-2013 06:06 AM               

Even though we are years away from the first SLS launch, chances are that stacking of hardware for fit checks will need to take place somewhat sooner than that, even if only to verify procedures with pathfinder hardware. It was done in Apollo and done for shuttle as well with Enterprise. Crews are going to have to be trained to stack SRBs once again eventually (even if they are inert units).

Personally, I prefer the VAB just remaining known as the VAB. Armstrong only flew hardware prepared from there once. Maybe John Young might be more appropriate since he flew four of his six flights on hardware stacked in the VAB (including STS-1).

posted 01-08-2013 12:19 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Not likely, at least not if Congress has anything to say about it (the Space Launch System requires the VAB).

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That has prompted NASA to advertise a long list of KSC facilities and equipment as available for use, lease or, in some cases, outright purchase by the right business.

Among them: Launch Pad 39A, where shuttles were launched; space in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the iconic 526-foot-tall structure first used to assemble Saturn V-Apollo rockets...

A lot of the stuff needs to be transferred by the end of 2013, when federal maintenance money will run out. When it does, machinery will start to rust, and buildings will deteriorate in the harsh coastal-marsh environment of Cape Canaveral.

posted 01-08-2013 12:48 PM               

The space agency is not outright selling either facility, and neither are in any danger of being demolished. The facilities being offered for sale (reportedly) are those that were single use to the shuttle.

posted 01-08-2013 06:51 PM               

Bad enough we change the names of ball fields to suit whatever sponsor gave the most money that year.

Naming something after someone is an honor, and if you're not giving any honor at all if someone later is going to change the name to give warm and fuzzies to someone else down the road...

Name something NEW after Armstrong that will be expected to be around a while. Then keep it named after him as long as it exists. THAT is how you really honor someone.

posted 02-26-2013 07:53 AM               

House Renames Flight Center After Neil Armstrong

The House of Representatives today approved a resolution to rename the Dryden Flight Research Center, located in southern California, the "Neil Armstrong Research Center." H.R. 667 also re-designates the surrounding test range to honor Hugh Dryden, a prominent aeronautical engineer.

Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) supported the bill in a statement on the House floor.

Chairman Smith: "Not many people know the relationship between these two men. Hugh Dryden was the visionary behind NASA's X-15 rocket plane and the Apollo program. Neil Armstrong was the one who flew the spacecraft that Dryden envisioned.

"Hugh Dryden recommended to President John F. Kennedy that the goal of putting a man on the Moon within 10 years was achievable and something the American people could rally behind.

"The rest is history. President Kennedy grabbed Hugh Dryden's idea and addressed a joint session of Congress the very next month. The Apollo program was the brainchild of Hugh Dryden.

"Neil Armstrong turned that dream into reality by making that 'one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind' on another world almost 240,000 miles away.

"Hugh Dryden was not able to see his dream become reality, as he died in 1965. And unfortunately, Neil Armstrong passed away last August. It is important for us to honor both men's legacies by naming the Flight Research Center after Neil Armstrong and the surrounding Test Range after Hugh Dryden.

"With this bill, we re-affirm that America is filled with dreamers like Hugh Dryden, and doers like Neil Armstrong, who — working together — can 'shoot for the Moon.'"

posted 02-26-2013 07:57 AM               

McCarthy Applauds Passage of Legislation Honoring Neil A. Armstrong and Hugh L. Dryden

Congressman Kevin McCarthy today applauded House passage of legislation to redesignate the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center and the Western Aeronautical Test Range as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range. Joining Congressman McCarthy as cosponsors of this legislation were Congressman Buck McKeon, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Congressman Ken Calvert, Congressman Lamar Smith, Congressman Steven Palazzo, and Congressman Adam Schiff.

Congressman Kevin McCarthy issued the following statement:

"I am pleased that today, the House voted to pass legislation I introduced to rename the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in honor of Neil A. Armstrong," said Congressman McCarthy. "This bill recognizes the achievements of Neil Armstrong in aerospace travel and space exploration, and emphasizes his affiliation with Kern County. He was an American hero who began his career as a test pilot here and later trained for his historic astronaut career right here in Eastern Kern. Later in life, he oversaw aeronautical research programs here and piloted the advances in technology that continue to this day."

"This legislation also recognizes Hugh Dryden by renaming the Center's test range in his honor. Eastern Kern remains a hub of innovation in scientific discovery, aeronautical research and space exploration, and I look forward to groundbreaking achievements to come."

posted 02-26-2013 12:39 PM               

"In some respects, I think Neil might have been a happier man if he had stayed a test pilot, becoming chief test pilot at NASA Dryden," historian James Hansen, the author of Armstrong's 2005 authorized biography "First Man," wrote on Facebook. "His career in test flying will be remembered even more now that his name will be forever associated with the Flight Research Center."

"It is also nice that Dr. Dryden's name will remain attached to the facility," Hansen said.

posted 03-06-2013 05:03 PM               

I think a college, office building or hall of some sort should be named in his honor, but not renaming a whole test facility.

posted 03-20-2013 08:54 AM               

In late February, the House cast a 394-0 vote to rename NASA's cutting-edge flight research center in Southern California after the late astronaut Neil Armstrong. What could possibly be wrong with that?

posted 11-08-2013 06:44 AM               

The bill, S. 1636, was introduced October 31, 2013 and referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. It is identical to H.R. 667, introduced by House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and passed by the House on February 25. That bill in turn is identical to a bill (H.R. 6612) that passed the House on December 31, 2012, but time ran out on the 112th Congress without any Senate action.