Whereas General Thomas Patten Stafford was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma, on September 17, 1930, to Thomas and Mary Ellen Stafford; Whereas General Stafford graduated with honors from the United States Naval Academy in 1952, after which he joined the newly formed United States Air Force; Whereas General Stafford entered the United States Air Force Experimental Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1958 and graduated in 1959, receiving the A.B. Honts Award as the outstanding graduate, and thereafter becoming an instructor and writing flight performance and aerodynamics textbooks for the school; Whereas, in 1962, General Stafford was chosen among the second group of astronauts by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (referred to in this preamble as NASA ) to serve in projects Gemini and Apollo; Whereas General Stafford developed techniques for and piloted Gemini VI in 1965, completing the first rendezvous in space, and commanded Gemini IX in 1966, demonstrating 3 different types of rendezvous, including the rendezvous that would be used in future Apollo lunar missions; Whereas, in 1969, General Stafford commanded Apollo 10, piloted the first lunar module to descend within 9 miles of the Moon, designated the first lunar landing site, performed reconnaissance of future Apollo landing sites, and completed each of the essential steps in the final preparation for the upcoming Moon landing, including the first rendezvous around the Moon; Whereas General Stafford and his crew won the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Special Trustees (commonly known as an Emmy ) Award for initiating development of and taking the first colored images from space; Whereas General Stafford set the record for the fastest speed traveled by a human during the return of the Apollo 10 mission, a record standing today and documented in the Guinness World Book of Records, at 24,791 miles per hour, or Mach 36