NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal

Not to be confused with NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.

Award

NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal

Type| Medal
Awarded for| "a significant, specific accomplishment or substantial improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which contributes to the mission of NASA."
Country| United States
Presented by| the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Eligibility| Government employees only
Status| Active
Established| 1991

NASA Exceptional Achievement Ribbon

Precedence
Next (higher)| Outstanding Leadership Medal
Equivalent| Outstanding Service Medal (obsolete)
Exceptional Service Medal
Next (lower)| Exceptional Achievement Medal
Exceptional Service Medal
Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal
Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal
Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal
Equal Employment Opportunity Medal

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.

## Notable recipients

[edit]

* Chris Adami, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, physicist
* Richard Arenstorf, Vanderbilt University, mathematician
* Gordon Cooper, astronaut
* Lana Couch (1992), NASA engineer and executive[1]
* Carl Sagan, astronomer
* Alan Shepard, astronaut
* John Young, astronaut
* Charles L. Bennett, observational astrophysicist
* Nancy Roman, astronomer, NASA executive
* Stephen P. Maran, astronomer
* Holly Ladner, Financial Specialist, NASA Shared Services Center

## Selected recipients by year

[edit]

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)
* 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
* Adam Steltzner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2004
* Carlos Ortiz Longo, Johnson Space Center, 2005
* Mian Chin, Goddard Space Flight Center, physical scientist, 2005
* Ashok Srivastava, Ames Research Center, Data Mining and Machine Learning, 2007
* Angelita Castro-Kelly, Mission Operations Manager, 2007[2]

2010 Honorees:[3]

* Michael H. Hecht, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Research Scientist

2013 Honorees:[4]

* Kobie Boykins, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Senior Mechanical Engineer
* David Y. Oh, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Science Laboratory Cross-Cutting Domain Lead

2019 Honorees:

* Rita M. Sambruna, NASA Headquarters[5]

## See also

[edit]

* List of NASA awards

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Lana M. Couch". Distinguished Engineering Alumna Award. Purdue University College of Engineering. 1994. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
2. ^ "Fil-Am mom gets NASA medal". philstar.com. No. 1 August 2010. PhilStar Global Corp. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
3. ^ "NASA Agency Honor Awards 2010" (PDF). NASA. May 11, 2010. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
4. ^ "2013 NASA Agency Honor Awards" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
5. ^ "Rita Sambruna Exceptional Achievement Medal 2019". YouTube. Event occurs at 22m00s.

## External links

[edit]

* NASA awards
* National Aeronautics and Space Administration Honor Awards (1969-1978)

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NASA

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| History
(creation)|

* NACA (1915)
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* Category
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Awards and decorations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Decorations|

* Congressional Space Medal of Honor (astronauts only)
* Distinguished Service Medal
* Distinguished Public Service Medal
* Outstanding Leadership Medal
* Outstanding Public Leadership Medal
* Exceptional Service Medal
* Exceptional Public Service Medal
* Exceptional Bravery Medal
* Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal
* Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
* Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal
* Equal Employment Opportunity Medal
* Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal
* Exceptional Achievement Medal
* Exceptional Public Achievement Medal
* Early Career Achievement Medal
* Silver Achievement Medal
* NASA Group Achievement Award
* Space Flight Medal (astronauts only)
* Space Exploration Medal

Obsolete|

* Outstanding Service Medal

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