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Commemorating the Life of Astronaut John Young

January 10, 2018

Congressman Soto speaks on the life of Astronaut John Young;

Full transcript:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the life of an Orlando favorite son, a hero that we lost this past weekend, Astronaut John Young who was inspirational and legendary to our community and who grew up in College Park in Orlando, Florida. And the street named after him span across our district as well as Representative Murphy and Demings in Central Florida.

He was described by our local paper as a country-boy who grew up in Orlando back when it was mostly farmland. He even got in trouble for smuggling in a corn beef sandwich into space on Gemini III. He was mostly known for his cool headedness and calm demeanor as he took numerous trips into space with NASA. Some of the flags and mission pouches he flew into space are on display in our Orlando Science Center. In Central Florida, we are proud to bare the parkway bare his name.

He died on January 5th, this past Friday, in his home in Houston. Mr. Young was NASA's longest serving astronaut. He was the first person to orbit the moon by himself and the 9th person to walk on the moon. He was the first person to travel to space six times during NASA's Gemini, Apolo lunar missions and into the space shuttle programs as well. Young commanded the first space shuttle flight mission, an iconic view, that so many Floridan's and so many Americans have seen over the years during that program and he was awarded the prestigious Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1981.

He represents the very best of the Orlando area. Rest in peace, Astronaut John Young.