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Hello. I want to wish the entire NASA family a happy,
safe and blessed holiday season. As we approach
a new year, we have much for which
to be proud and thankful in 2011.
Each of you has had a role in our many successes.
I want to thank each of you for your continued
dedication to NASA and for all of your efforts,
which are keeping America the leader in space exploration.
2011 truly marks the beginning of a new era in the human
exploration of our solar system.
Just as important are our ground-breaking discoveries
about the universe and the planet we live on,
as well as our work to inspire and educate
a new generation of scientists and engineers.
It’s been a landmark 2011 for the entire NASA team.
Among our many accomplishments, this year we safely
retired the Space Shuttle Program after 30 years of flight.
The final flight was a bittersweet day for many of us,
but we now open a new chapter in exploration,
standing on the shoulders of the thousands of men
and women who made the shuttle the successful
and cutting edge program it was.
We continued to work aboard the International Space Station
24/7, as we have for 11 years now, and took steps
to bring it to its full potential as a unique laboratory
that will help us reach farther destinations
and improve life on Earth.
We made more agreements to facilitate commercial
transportation to low Earth orbit so we can focus
on the next great challenges --
the missions of tomorrow to asteroids and Mars.
And we took tangible steps toward those missions
by deciding on the path for our new heavy lift rocket
and the Orion crew vehicle, and by moving forward
with space technology programs to help us develop
the capabilities of a space-faring nation.
In fact, the Office of the Chief Technologist has more
than 1000 projects underway, ranging across all technical
areas and levels of technical maturity.
Science had a banner year with the Aquarius launch
to study our oceans, plus launches of GRAIL to the moon,
Juno to Jupiter and Curiosity to Mars.
All of those launches were against a backdrop of amazing
continuous discoveries from our missions already operating,
such as Hubble and Chandra and Kepler –
which this year discovered a near-Earth-sized planet
in the habitable zone of its star.
It's a golden age for science, and these missions
are rewriting textbooks and inspiring the next
generation who want to make their own discoveries.
NASA's aeronautical innovators continued in 2011
to lay the foundation for the future of flight
by exploring new ways to manage air traffic,
build more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly airliners,
and educate the next generation of aviation pioneers.
Our education programs reached tens of thousands of students
and teachers through the Summer of Innovation and other
programs that helped us successfully develop a variety
of new partnerships and engage in activities to promote science,
technology, engineering and math education.
I am very proud of all of our accomplishments,
and I am proud of you, the best team in government.
Together, we've weathered some challenging times and come out
on a dynamic path that has broad agreement across
the political spectrum, and which once again gives
NASA big things to do -- things no one but us can accomplish.
I know I can count on all of you in 2012 to continue to excel.
As we go our respective ways to share time
with friends and family, I hope you will take great pride
in this year's accomplishments and share my hope for a bright
future that we will bring about together.
Happy holidays to everyone.