Award
The NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal is an award of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration established in 1991. The medal is awarded to both civilian members of NASA and military astronauts.
To be awarded the medal, a NASA employee must make substantial contributions characterized by a substantial and significant improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which directly contribute to the mission of NASA. For civilians, the decoration is typically bestowed to mid-level and senior NASA administrators who have supervised at least four to five successful NASA missions. Astronauts may be awarded the decoration after two to three space flights.
Due to its prestige, the medal is authorized as a military decoration for display on active duty military uniforms upon application from the service member to the various branch of the military in which they serve.
Selected recipients by year
There are usually more than 100 recipients of this medal annually. For example, there were 177 recipients in 2010.
- Prem Chand Pandey, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1985 (NASA Certificate of Recognition and Cash Award)
- David Rochblatt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Engineer, 1995 (NASA Exceptional Service Medal, 2012)
- Jon T. Adams, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Scatterometer Radio Frequency Subsystem, 1997
- Gary Flandro, University of Tennessee, UTSI, 1998
- Miguel San Martín, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1998
- John R. Casani, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1999, 2000
- Mark P. Stucky, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Eclipse Project Technical Lead & Project Pilot, 1999
- Joan Feynman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2002
- Thomas M. Lavelle, Glenn Research Center, Aerospace Engineer, 2002
- Stephen G. Ungar, Goddard Space Flight Center, Earth Observing-1 Mission Scientist, 2002
- Kevin Delin, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Sensor Web Inventor, 2004
- Adam Steltzner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2004
- Keith Presson, Marshall Space Flight Center MPLM Project Office, 2005
- Carlos Ortiz Longo, Johnson Space Center, 2005
- Robert Sherwood, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Autonomous Sciencecraft Project Manager, 2005
- Mian Chin, Goddard Space Flight Center, physical scientist, 2005
- Rodney N. Phillips, Marshall Space Flight Center, Structural Dynamics Test Engineer, 2006
- Michael Dalton, Kennedy Space Center, Computer Systems Engineer, 2007
- Ashok Srivastava, Ames Research Center, Data Mining and Machine Learning, 2007
- Quang-Viet Nguyen, Glenn Research Center, Research Aerospace Engineer, 2007[2]
- Angelita Castro-Kelly, Mission Operations Manager, 2007[3]
- Douglas R. Fraser, Ames Research Center, Pressure Systems Manager, 2008
- Michael A. Gross, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Phoenix Project Payload Manager, 2009
- Ryan M. Lien, Johnson Space Center, Lead ISS CAPCOM Expedition 17, 2009
- Eric Becker, Armstrong Flight Research Center, deputy director of Flight Operations, 2009
2010 Honorees:[4]
2011 Honorees:
- Gustavo Carreno, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Avionics Supervisor
- Philip Hall, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Global Hawk Deputy Project Manager
- Kevin D. James, Ames Research Center, Senior Research Engineer, ARIES/ORION Launch Abort Flight Dynamics Tests
- Terry D. Rolin, Ph.D., Marshall Space Flight Center, Avionics Failure Analyst
- Eddie Zavala, Armstrong Flight Research Center, SOFIA Program Manager
2012 Honorees:
2013 Honorees:[5]
- Kobie Boykins, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Senior Mechanical Engineer
- Jonathan H. Jiang, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Principal Scientist
- Brett A. Smith, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dawn Attitude Control Team Leader
- David Y. Oh, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Science Laboratory Cross-Cutting Domain Lead
- Brett A. Smith, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dawn Attitude Control Team Leader
2014 Honorees:[6]
2015 Honorees:[7]
2016 Honorees:
2018 Honorees:
2019 Honorees:
2020 Honorees:
2022 Honorees:
