SR0424 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0424 LRB103 33704 LAW 63516 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate wish to congratulate Beth Mund of St. Charles on the occasion of the successful launch of her Stories of Space project; and

WHEREAS, The Stories of Space, also known as The STORIES Project and formerly known as the Story SD Card Testing and On-Board Research on the International Space Station Experiment and Survey, is an open-source project available to a global community of storytellers who wish to connect people to space and is driven by a team of scientists, researchers, communicators, and writers; the project features written work that has been sent to and will return from space on micro-SD cards, creating a unique International Space Station science experiment that tests the effects of radiation on micro-SD electronics and data storage; and

WHEREAS, Beth Mund serves as the executive director of the Stories of Space project; she is also an analog astronaut, the CEO of Stellar Communications, a former communications officer for NASA, a keynote speaker, and a space communicator; as an analog astronaut, she served on two simulated missions, one to Mars at the HI-SEAS research facility in Hawaii and the other a lunar simulation in Poland at the Lunares Research Station; during her tenure at NASA, she served as a public affairs officer and an International Space Station communications officer; and

WHEREAS, Beth Mund is the weekly host of the Casual Space podcast, which provides intimate conversations each week with astronauts, authors, scientists, and CEOs who are looking to share their love for space exploration while helping to inspire the next generation; her podcast will feature work submitted to the Stories of Space project; and

WHEREAS, Beth Mund currently serves on the Space Camp Alumni Board and the Space Drinks Association; she is a founding board member of the Women's Leadership Alliance at her alma mater, Loras College, and a two-time host of the Humans to Mars conference; and

WHEREAS, Beth Mund works passionately to connect people to space exploration through her projects, her podcast, and her in-person programs; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Beth Mund on the successful launch of her Stories of Space project, and we wish her continued success in her endeavors to make space exploration information accessible for people of all backgrounds; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Beth Mund as an expression of our esteem and respect.