Feinstein Introduces Bill to Rename Dryden FRC After Neil Armstrong

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced a bill last week to rename NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) after Neil Armstrong.  The House passed a similar bill in February, but there has been no action in the Senate so far.

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.

The bills honor Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, who died in August 2012.   DFRC, at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, is currently named after Hugh Dryden, Director of NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and NASA’s first deputy administrator.  Both bills would also rename NASA’s Western Aeronautical Test Range (WATF) after Dryden.

In a statement introducing the bill, Feinstein said renaming the DFRC after Armstrong was “fitting” because it is located at the “base where his career literally took off,” and changing the name of WATF would be a “tribute to Dr. Dryden’s enduring legacy.”