The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

award administered by the U.S.

National Aeronautic Association The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the Uni ...

(NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field. The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astronaut ...

in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year." Robert J. Collier, publisher of ''

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...

'' magazine, was an

air sports The term "air sports" covers a range of aerial activities, including air racing, aerobatics, aeromodelling, hang gliding, human-powered aircraft, parachuting, paragliding and skydiving. Recognized and regulated air sports Many air sports ...

pioneer and president of the

Aero Club of America The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New E ...

. In 1910, he commissioned Baltimore sculptor

Ernest Wise Keyser Ernest Wise Keyser (1876-1959) was an American sculptor born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 10, 1876. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and at the Art Students League in New York City and at the Académie Ju ...

to make the ''Aero Club of America Trophy''. First awarded in 1911 to

Glenn H. Curtiss Glenn Hammond Curtiss (May 21, 1878 – July 23, 1930) was an American aviation and motorcycling pioneer, and a founder of the U.S. aircraft industry. He began his career as a bicycle racer and builder before moving on to motorcycles. As early a ...

for his successful development of the hydro-aeroplane. Collier owned a

Wright Model B The Wright Model B was an early pusher biplane designed by the Wright brothers in the United States in 1910. It was the first of their designs to be built in quantity. Unlike the Model A, it featured a true elevator carried at the tail rat ...

biplane which he purchased in 1911. Collier presented his namesake trophy several times before his death in 1918; after his

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

service. In 1922, when the Aero Club dissolved, the award was taken over by the

(NAA) and it was unofficially renamed the Robert J. Collier Trophy, which became official in 1944. The award is presented once a year by the NAA president, with the trophy on permanent display at the U.S.

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...

. As such, the trophy was in the custody of its 1969 co-recipient

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

during his directorship of the museum. The trophy was stolen briefly in 1978, but was recovered. The thieves left it at

Fort Foote Fort Foote was an American Civil War-era wood and earthwork fort that was part of the wartime defenses of Washington, D.C., which helped defend the Potomac River approach to the city. It operated from 1863 to 1878, when the post was abandoned, ...

park and it was recovered 26 hours from the time it went missing.

Recipients

* 1911 –

, for successful development of the hydro-aeroplane."The Curtiss Company."
''US Centennial of Flight Commemoration,'' 2003. Retrieved: January 28, 2011. The first award. * 1912 – Glenn H. Curtiss, for the invention of the single-pontoon seaplane and development of the flying boat. * 1913 – Orville Wright, for development of his

automatic stabilizer In macroeconomics, automatic stabilizers are features of the structure of modern government budgets, particularly income taxes and welfare spending, that act to damp out fluctuations in real GDP. The size of the government budget deficit tends to ...

. * 1914 –

Elmer Sperry Elmer Ambrose Sperry Sr. (October 12, 1860 – June 16, 1930) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, most famous for construction, two years after Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, of the gyrocompass and as founder of the Sperry Gyroscope Company. H ...

and

Lawrence Sperry Lawrence Burst Sperry (21 December 1892, Chicago, Illinois, United States – December 13, 1923, English Channel) was an aviation pioneer who invented the autopilot and the artificial horizon. Biography He was the third son of the gyrocompa ...

, for the invention of gyroscopic control. * 1915 – W. Starling Burgess, for the Burgess-Dunne BD series of semi-flying wing seaplanes. * 1916 – Elmer Sperry and Lawrence Sperry for the invention of a drift indicator * 1917–1920 – No trophy awarded due to the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

* 1921 –

Grover Loening Grover Cleveland Loening (September 12, 1888 – February 29, 1976) was an American aircraft manufacturer. Biography Loening was born in Bremen, in what was then Imperial Germany, on September 12, 1888, while his American-born father was station ...

, for development of the Loening Flying Yacht. * 1922 – United States Air Mail Service, for the first transcontinental air mail route without a single fatal accident. * 1923 – United States Air Mail Service, for the first transcontinental air mail route involving night flight. * 1924 –

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial war ...

, for first aerial flight around the world. * 1925 –

Sylvanus Albert Reed Sylvanus Albert Reed (8 April 1854 – 1 October 1935) was an American aerospace engineer who developed the modern metal aircraft propeller. Early life and career Reed Graduated from Columbia University in 1874. He worked as an engineer special ...

, for the metal propeller. * 1926 – Major

Edward L. Hoffman Edward Lincoln Hoffman (1884–1970) was a United States Army Air Service (USAAS) pilot, officer and Engineering Division Chief at McCook Field. With no parachute experience, he formed a team that included aviation pioneers Leslie Irvin and ...

of the

for the development of a practical

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

. * 1927 –

Charles L. Lawrance Charles Lanier Lawrance (September 30, 1882 – June 24, 1950) was an American aeronautical engineer and an early proponent of air-cooled aircraft engines. Early life Lawrance was born on September 30, 1882 in Lenox, Massachusetts, the son of Fr ...

, for the development of the air-cooled aircraft

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

. * 1928 – Aeronautics branch of the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

for development of airways and navigation facilities. * 1929 – National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), for design of the

NACA cowling The NACA cowling is a type of aerodynamic fairing used to streamline radial engines installed on airplanes. It was developed by Fred Weick of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1927. It was a major advance in aerodynamic ...

for radial air-cooled engines. 1930 Collier Trophy

* 1930 –

Harold Frederick Pitcairn Harold Frederick Pitcairn (June 20, 1897 – April 23, 1960) was an American aviation inventor and pioneer. He played a key role in the development of the autogyro and founded the Autogiro Company of America. He patented a number of innovations ...

and associates for development of the

autogyro An autogyro (from Greek and , "self-turning"), also known as a ''gyroplane'', is a type of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. Forward thrust is provided independently, by an engine-driven propeller. Whi ...

. * 1931 –

Packard Motor Car Co. Packard or Packard Motor Car Company was an American luxury automobile company located in Detroit, Michigan. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last Packards were built in South Bend, Indiana in 1958. One of the "Thr ...

for the design/development of the first, practical diesel aircraft engine, the DR-980 radial engine. * 1932 –

Glenn L. Martin Glenn Luther Martin (January 17, 1886 – December 5, 1955) was an early American aviation pioneer. He designed and built his own aircraft and was an active pilot, as well as an aviation record-holder. He founded an aircraft company in 1912 whi ...

for the design of the

Martin B-10 The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps, entering service in June 1934.Jackson 2003, p. 246. It was also the first mass-produced bomber whose performance was superior to ...

(XB-907) bomber. * 1933 – Frank W. Caldwell of

Hamilton Standard Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...

for the hydraulically controllable propeller. * 1934 – Captain A. F. Hegenberger

USAAC The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

for the first

blind flying In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR). The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...

landing system. * 1935 –

Donald W. Douglas Donald Wills Douglas Sr. (April 6, 1892 – February 1, 1981) was an American aircraft industrialist and engineer. An aviation pioneer, he designed and built the Douglas Cloudster. Though it failed in its intended purpose—being the first to ...

and his technical and production personnel for the outstanding twin-engine transport airliner. * 1936 –

Pan American Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

for establishment of a transpacific airline and the successful execution of extended overwater navigation in regular operations. * 1937 –

Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps: * Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army * Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941) * United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...

for the design and development of the

Lockheed XC-35 The Lockheed XC-35 is a twin-engine, experimental pressurized airplane. It was the second American aircraft to feature cabin pressurization. It was initially described as a "supercharged cabins" by the Army. The XC-35 was a development of the Lo ...

. * 1938 –

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

and his associates for breaking the record time by flying around the world in 91 hours and 14 minutes. * 1939 –

Airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

s of the US safety record, with special recognition to Walter Boothby, Randolph Lovelace, and Harry Armstrong. * 1940 – Dr. Sanford A. Moss and the

for development of the

turbo-supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

. * 1941 –

and the

s of the US for pioneering worldwide air transportation vital to immediate defense. * 1942 – General Henry Arnold for his "organization and leadership of the Army Air Forces throughout the world." * 1943 – Captain

Luis de Florez Luis de Florez (March 4, 1889 − November 1962) was a naval aviator and a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy that was actively involved in experimental aerospace development projects for the United States Government. As both an active duty an ...

United States Navy Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2005, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called Reservists, are categorized as being in either the Sele ...

for his contribution to the safe and rapid training of combat pilots and crews. * 1944 –

Carl Spaatz Carl Andrew Spaatz (born Spatz; June 28, 1891 – July 14, 1974), nicknamed "Tooey", was an American World War II general. As commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe in 1944, he successfully pressed for the bombing of the enemy's oil product ...

"for demonstrating the air power concept through employment of American aviation in the war against Germany." * 1945 –

Luis W. Alvarez Luis Walter Alvarez (June 13, 1911 – September 1, 1988) was an American experimental physicist, inventor, and professor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 for his discovery of resonance states in particle physics using the ...

for the

Ground Controlled Approach In aviation a ground-controlled approach (GCA), is a type of service provided by air-traffic controllers whereby they guide aircraft to a safe landing, including in adverse weather conditions, based on primary radar images. Most commonly a GCA uses ...

(GCA) which allowed radar operators to guide pilots to a safe landing in all weather conditions. * 1946 – Lewis A. Rodert of NACA, for the design and development of an aircraft anti-icing system. * 1947 – Lawrence Bell, John Stack,

Chuck Yeager Brigadier General Charles Elwood Yeager ( , February 13, 1923December 7, 2020) was a United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot who in October 1947 became the first pilot in history confirmed to have exceeded the ...

shared the award for their work on the

Bell X-1 The Bell X-1 (Bell Model 44) is a rocket engine–powered aircraft, designated originally as the XS-1, and was a joint National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics– U.S. Army Air Forces–U.S. Air Force supersonic research project built by Be ...

, the first aircraft to break the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

. * 1948 – The

Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics RTCA, Inc. (formerly known as Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics) is a United States non-profit organization that develops technical guidance for use by government regulatory authorities and by industry. It was founded in 1935 and was re-in ...

for developing an

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

system. * 1949 –

William Lear William Powell Lear (June 26, 1902 – May 14, 1978) was an American inventor and businessman. He is best known for founding Learjet, a manufacturer of business jets. He also invented the battery eliminator for the B battery, and developed the ...

for the development of the F-5

automatic pilot An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...

and automatic approach control coupler system. * 1950 – The Helicopter Industry, the Military Services, and the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

– for development and use of rotary-wing aircraft for air rescue operations. * 1951 – John Stack for the

NACA The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...

Langley transonic wind tunnel. * 1952 – Leonard S. Hobbs of United Aircraft Corp., for the design, development, and production of the

Pratt & Whitney J57 The Pratt & Whitney J57 (company designation: JT3C) is an axial-flow turbojet engine developed by Pratt & Whitney in the early 1950s. The J57 (first run January 1950) was the first 10,000 lbf (45 kN) thrust class engine in the United States ...

jet engine. * 1953 –

James H. Kindelberger James Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger (May 8, 1895 – July 27, 1962) was an American aviation pioneer. He led North American Aviation from 1934 until 1960. An extroverted character, Kindelberger was famed for his emphasis on hard work, orderliness ...

for

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included: the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F ...

F-100 F-100 or F100 may refer to: Aerospace and defense * North American F-100 Super Sabre, a fighter aircraft formerly in the service of the United States Air Force * Fokker 100, a regional jet * Pratt & Whitney F100, afterburning turbofan engine * ' ...

and

Edward H. Heinemann Edward Henry Heinemann (March 14, 1908 – November 26, 1991) was a military aircraft designer for the Douglas Aircraft Company. Biography Heinemann was born in Saginaw, Michigan. He moved to California as a boy and was raised in Los Angeles. ...

for

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

aircraft carrier based F4D. * 1954 –

Richard T. Whitcomb Richard Travis Whitcomb (February 21, 1921 – October 13, 2009) was an American aeronautical engineer who was noted for his contributions to the science of aerodynamics. Biography Whitcomb was born in Evanston, Illinois. His father, who had ...

for his discovery of the ''

area rule The Whitcomb area rule, named after NACA engineer Richard Whitcomb and also called the transonic area rule, is a design procedure used to reduce an aircraft's drag at transonic speeds which occur between about Mach 0.75 and 1.2. For supersonic ...

'', a design method for supersonic aircraft. * 1955 –

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

William M. Allen William McPherson Allen (September 1, 1900 – October 28, 1985) was an American businessman in the aviation industry who served as the President of Boeing from 1945 to 1968. Life and career Born in Lolo, Montana, he attended the University of M ...

and General

Nathan F. Twining Nathan Farragut Twining ( ; October 11, 1897 – March 29, 1982) was a United States Air Force general, born in Monroe, Wisconsin. He was the chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 1953 until 1957, and the third chairman of the Joi ...

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

for the development, production, and operation of the

B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

. * 1956 – Charles J. McCarthy of Chance-Vaught Aircraft and Vice Admiral

James S. Russell James Sargent Russell (March 22, 1903 – April 14, 1996) was an admiral in the United States Navy. Biography Russell was born in Tacoma, Washington, the son of noted architect Ambrose J. Russell and Loella Janet (Sargent) Russell. He attended D ...

U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics for the F-8U Crusader the first operational aircraft capable of speeds exceeding . * 1957 – Edward P. Curtis for "Aviation Facilities Planning," the long-range planning addressing problems with aircraft, air space, and facilities. * 1958 –

Clarence "Kelly" Johnson Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical engineering, aeronautical and Systems engineering, systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important air ...

of Lockheed

Skunk Works Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, beginning with the Lockheed P-38 Lightn ...

, and

Gerhard Neumann Gerhard Neumann (October 8, 1917 – November 2, 1997) was an American aviation engineer and executive for General Electric's aircraft engine division (which today is called GE Aviation). Born and raised in Germany, he went to China shortly be ...

and Neil Burgess of GE, for leadership in the development of the

F-104 Starfighter The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is an American single-engine, supersonic air superiority fighter which was extensively deployed as a fighter-bomber during the Cold War. Created as a day fighter by Lockheed as one of the "Century Series" of fi ...

and its

J79 The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under lice ...

engine. * 1959 –

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee, was an American aircraft manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft. In 1953, it ...

Division of

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

, and

Space Technology Laboratories TRW Inc., was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, electronics, automotive, and credit reporting.http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/TRW-Inc-Company-History.html TRW Inc. It was a pionee ...

for the development of the

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

missile * 1960 – Vice Adm William F Raborn for directing the creation of the Polaris fleet ballistic missile system. * 1961 –

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

Aviation with

Scott Crossfield Albert Scott Crossfield (October 2, 1921 – April 19, 2006) was an American naval officer and test pilot. In 1953, he became the first pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. Crossfield was the first of twelve pilots who flew the North America ...

Joseph A. Walker Joseph Albert Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) (Capt, USAF) was an American World War II pilot, experimental physicist, NASA test pilot, and astronaut who was the first person to fly an airplane to space. He was one of twelve pilots ...

Robert Michael White Robert Michael "Bob" White (July 6, 1924 – March 17, 2010) (Maj Gen, USAF) was an American electrical engineer, test pilot, fighter pilot, and astronaut. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane ...

and

Forrest S. Petersen Forrest Silas Petersen (May 16, 1922 – December 8, 1990), ( VADM, USN), was a United States Navy aviator and test pilot. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane jointly operated by the Air Force ...

X-15 The North American X-15 is a hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. It was operated by the United States Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration as part of the X-plane series of experimental aircraft. The X-15 set speed ...

test pilots. * 1962 –

Mercury Seven The Mercury Seven were the group of seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959; these seve ...

, group of first seven astronauts. * 1963 –

, for his leadership at Lockheed's Skunk Works in the development of the

A-11 A11, A 11 or A-11 may refer to: Military * Aero A.11, a Czechoslovakian bomber produced before World War II * Consolidated A-11, an attack version of the Consolidated P-30 fighter plane of the 1930s * HMS A11, HMS ''A11'', an A-class submarine of ...

Mach 3 aircraft. * 1964 –

Curtis LeMay Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was an American Air Force general who implemented a controversial strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific theater of World War II. He later served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air ...

"for development of high performance aircraft, missiles and space systems." * 1965 –

James E. Webb James Edwin Webb (October 7, 1906 – March 27, 1992) was an American government official who served as Undersecretary of State from 1949 to 1952. He was the second Administrator of NASA from February 14, 1961, to October 7, 1968. Webb led NA ...

and

Hugh L. Dryden Hugh Latimer Dryden (July 2, 1898 – December 2, 1965) was an American aeronautical scientist and civil servant. He served as NASA Deputy Administrator from August 19, 1958, until his death. Biography Early life and education Dryden was born in ...

for the

Project Gemini Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...

. * 1966 – James McDonnell for development work in aeronautics and astronautics, specifically on the

F-4 Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

and

space vehicles. * 1967 – Lawrence "Pat" Hyland of

Hughes Aircraft The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting p ...

Surveyor program The Surveyor program was a NASA program that, from June 1966 through January 1968, sent seven robotic spacecraft to the surface of the Moon. Its primary goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of soft landings on the Moon. The Surveyor craft ...

for placing the eyes, ears & hand of the United States on the Moon. * 1968 –

Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...

crew: Col. Frank Borman, USAF; Capt. James A. Lovell, Jr., USN; Lt. Col. William A. Anders, USAF for the first lunar orbit. * 1969 –

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

crew: NEIL A. ARMSTRONG, COL. Edwin E. AldrinJR., USAF; COL.

, USAF for the first landing of man on the surface of the Moon, July 20, 1969. * 1970 –

The Boeing Company The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

for their introduction of the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

. * 1971 –

David Scott David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and c ...

James Irwin James Benson Irwin (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) was an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and a United States Air Force pilot. He served as Apollo Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, the fourth human lunar landing. ...

Alfred Worden Alfred Merrill Worden (February 7, 1932 – March 18, 2020) was an American test pilot, engineer and NASA astronaut who was the command module pilot for the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971. One of only 24 people to have flown to the ...

, and

Robert Gilruth Robert Rowe Gilruth (October 8, 1913 – August 17, 2000) was an American aerospace engineer and an aviation/space pioneer who was the first director of NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center, later renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. He worked ...

of the

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...

mission. * 1972 – The Officers and Men of the

7th Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...

and

8th Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and Task Force 77 of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for

Operation Linebacker II Operation Linebacker II was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by U.S. Seventh Air Force, Strategic Air Command and U.S. Navy Task Force 77 against targets in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) during the final period of ...

. * 1973 – William C. Schneider and crews of the Skylab program * 1974 – John F. Clark of NASA and Daniel J. Fink of GE, representing NASA's Earth Resources Technology Satellite Program,

LANDSAT The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA / USGS program. On 23 July 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually renamed to Lan ...

for mankind's management of the Earth's resources and with recognition to

Hughes Aircraft Company The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of Hughes Tool Company. The company was known for producing, among other produ ...

and

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

. * 1975 –

David S. Lewis, Jr. David Sloan Lewis, Jr. (July 6, 1917 – December 15, 2003) was an aeronautical engineer who led aerospace and defense giant General Dynamics for 14 years. Early life David Lewis was born in 1917, in North Augusta, South Carolina. As a child, ...

General Dynamics Corporation General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Unit ...

and the

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

Air Force Industry Team. * 1976 -

and

Rockwell International Corporation Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...

for the highly successful design, development, management, and flight test of the B-1 strategic aircraft system. * 1977 -

Robert J. Dixon General Robert James Dixon, USAF (April 9, 1920 – March 21, 2003) was a United States Air Force four-star general and Command Pilot who served as Commander, Tactical Air Command (COMTAC) from 1973 to 1978. He also served simultaneously as comma ...

for his work on

Red Flag Red flag may refer to: * Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem ** Red flag warning, a term used by meteorologists ** Red flag (battle ensign), maritime flag signaling an intention to give battle with no quarter (fight to ...

. * 1978 -

Sam B. Williams Sam Barlow Williams (7 May 1921 in Seattle, Washington – 22 June 2009 in Indian Wells, California) was an American inventor and founder of Williams International. He was best known for his development of the small fan-jet engine, and received s ...

for development of the small, high-efficiency

turbofan The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which ac ...

. * 1979 -

Paul MacCready Paul B. MacCready Jr. (September 25, 1925 – August 28, 2007) was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the first Kremer prize. He devoted his life to dev ...

for the

MacCready Gossamer Albatross The ''Gossamer Albatross'' is a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Dr Paul B MacCready's company AeroVironment. On June 12, 1979, it completed a successful crossing of the English Channel to win the second Kremer pr ...

piloted by Bryan Allen made the first man-powered flight across the English Channel. * 1980 -

Edward C. Stone Edward Carroll Stone (born January 23, 1936) is an American space scientist, professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology, and former director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Biography Stone was born in Knoxvil ...

representing the

Voyager mission The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two robotic interstellar probes, ''Voyager 1'' and ''Voyager 2''. They were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favorable alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, to fly near th ...

team's fly-by of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

. * 1981 -

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...

Martin Marietta The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin. History Martin Mari ...

, and

Thiokol Thiokol (variously Thiokol Chemical Corporation(/Company), Morton Thiokol Inc., Cordant Technologies Inc., Thiokol Propulsion, AIC Group, ATK Thiokol, ATK Launch Systems Group; finally Orbital ATK before becoming part of Northrop Grumman) was an ...

for the development of manned reusable spacecraft noting astronauts

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Coll ...

Robert Crippen Robert Laurel Crippen (born September 11, 1937) is an American retired naval officer and aviator, test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircra ...

Joe Engle Joe Henry Engle (born August 26, 1932) is an American pilot, aeronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut. He was the commander of two Space Shuttle missions including STS-2 in 1981, the program's second orbital flight. He also flew three fl ...

and

Richard Truly Richard Harrison Truly (born November 12, 1937) is a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy, a former fighter pilot, engineer, astronaut, and was the eighth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 1 ...

. * 1982 - Thornton "T" Arnold Wilson and

for the

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...

and the 767. * 1983 -

The United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and Hughes Aircraft Helicopters for advanced weapons systems for the

AH-64A Apache The Boeing AH-64 Apache () is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. It features a nose-mounted sensor suite for target acquisition and night vis ...

. * 1984 -

Bruce McCandless Bruce McCandless I (August 12, 1911 – January 24, 1968) was an officer of United States Navy who received the Medal of Honor during World War II for his heroism on board , during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13, 1942. He retired ...

and

Charles E. Whitsett Charles Edward "Ed" Whitsett Jr. (1936-1993) was a USAF officer and NASA engineer specializing in solutions for effective human movement in zero gravity. The pinnacle of his work was the astronaut maneuvering unit (MMU) which enabled satellite ...

and Walter W. Bollendonk of

for their work on satellite rescue and repair. * 1985 - Russell W Meyer and

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

Aircraft for the outstanding safety record of the

Cessna Citation The Cessna Citation is a family of business jets by Cessna that started in 1972 with the entry into service of the first model. In the fifty years following the 1969 first flight, more than 7,500 Citations were delivered, forming the largest b ...

aircraft. * 1986 -

Dick Rutan Richard Glenn Rutan (born July 1, 1938) is a retired United States Air Force officer and fighter pilot, test pilot, and record-breaking aviator who in 1986 piloted the Voyager aircraft on the first non-stop, non-refueled around-the-world flight ...

Jeana Yeager Jeana Lee Yeager (born May 18, 1952) is an American aviator. She co-piloted, along with Dick Rutan, the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world in the Rutan Voyager aircraft from December 14 to 23, 1986. The flight took 9 days, 3 m ...

Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (; born June 17, 1943) is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the record- ...

and the team of the first non-stop unrefueled

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the

Rutan Voyager The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's 15,000 foot (4,600 m) runway in the Mojav ...

. * 1987 -

NASA Lewis Research Center NASA John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field is a NASA center within the cities of Brook Park and Cleveland between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and the Rocky River Reservation of Cleveland Metroparks, with a subsidiary facilit ...

and the NASA/industry advanced turboprop team for their work in new

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

technologies. * 1988 - Rear Admiral

Richard H. Truly Richard Harrison Truly (born November 12, 1937) is a retired vice admiral in the United States Navy, a former fighter pilot, engineer, astronaut, and was the eighth administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from 19 ...

U.S. Navy for the successful return of America to space after the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. * 1989 -

Ben Rich Ben Rich may refer to: * Ben Rich (engineer) Benjamin Robert Rich (June 18, 1925 – January 5, 1995) was an American engineer and the second Director of Lockheed's Skunk Works from 1975 to 1991, succeeding its founder, Kelly Johnson. Regarde ...

of Lockheed and

team for the first stealth aircraft, the

F-117 The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, twin-engine stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational air ...

. * 1990 -

Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

team for the first large

tiltrotor A tiltrotor is an aircraft which generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a trans ...

aircraft.Maisel, Martin D., Demo J. Giulianetti and Daniel C. Dugan
NASA SP-2000-4517, "The History of the XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft: From Concept to Flight" (PDF)
p155 ''

'', 2000. Accessed: 17 March 2012. * 1991 - The

Northrop Corporation Northrop Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer from its formation in 1939 until its 1994 merger with Grumman to form Northrop Grumman. The company is known for its development of the flying wing design, most successfully the B-2 Spiri ...

, the Industry Team and the

for the

Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber, is an American heavy strategic bomber, featuring low-observable stealth technology designed to penetrate dense anti-aircraft defenses. A subsonic flying ...

. * 1992 -

Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

Aerospace Corporation The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) in El Segundo, California. The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space mi ...

, and IBM Federal Systems Company for

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

(GPS). * 1993 - The Hubble Space Telescope Recovery Team for the recovery and repair of the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most versa ...

. * 1994 -

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

, and

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

for developing and producing the

C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...

. * 1995 -

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) is a division of The Boeing Company. It designs, assembles, markets, and sells jet airliners and business jets ( Boeing Business Jets), and also provides product-related maintenance and training to customers wor ...

for producing the

Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap bet ...

. * 1996 -

Cessna Aircraft Company Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...

for producing the

Citation X The Cessna Citation X is an American business jet produced by Cessna and part of the Citation family. Announced at the October 1990 NBAA convention, the Model 750 made its maiden flight on December 21, 1993, received its type certification on ...

the US's first commercial aircraft to cruise at .92 Mach. * 1997 -

Gulfstream Aerospace Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is an American aircraft company and a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics. Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and services business jet aircraft. Gulfstream has produced more than 2,000 ...

for producing the ultra-long range business jet the

Gulfstream V The Gulfstream V (Model GV, pronounced "G-five") is a long-range, large business jet aircraft produced by Gulfstream Aerospace, derived from the previous Gulfstream IV. It flies up to , up to and has a range. It typically accommodates four cr ...

. * 1998 -

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

GE Aircraft Engines GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of th ...

Air Combat Command Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the primary provider of air combat forces for the Air Force, and i ...

, and

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...

for the U-2S/ER-2 high altitude, all-weather, multi-functional data collection aircraft. * 1999 -

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...

Raytheon Technologies Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliz ...

, and

for the

F/A-18E/F The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable, multirole fighter aircraft variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat and F/A-18F tandem-seat variants are larger and more adv ...

multi-mission strike fighter aircraft. * 2000 -

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

Raytheon Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitaliza ...

L-3 Communications L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, was an American company that supplied command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ( C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training d ...

, and

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

for the

Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft of the 1990s–2020s. It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman), and known as Tier II+ during development. Th ...

. * 2001 -

Pratt and Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies. Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially airlines) and military aviat ...

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

and the

Joint Strike Fighter program Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands ...

Office for

LiftFan The Rolls-Royce LiftSystem, together with the F135 engine, is an aircraft propulsion system designed for use in the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II. The complete system, known as the Integrated Lift Fan Propulsion System (ILFPS), was a ...

Propulsion System. * 2002 -

Sikorsky Aircraft Sikorsky Aircraft is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Stratford, Connecticut. It was established by aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky in 1923 and was among the first companies to manufacture helicopters for civilian and military use. Pre ...

and the S-92 team, led by Nicholas Lappos. * 2003 -

for the development of the

G550 The Gulfstream G550 is a business jet aircraft produced by General Dynamics' Gulfstream Aerospace unit in Savannah, Georgia, US. The certification designation is GV-SP. A version with reduced fuel capacity was marketed as the G500. Gulfstream ...

, the first civil aircraft to include an

enhanced vision system An enhanced flight vision system (EFVS, sometimes EVS) is an Avionics, airborne system which provides an image of the scene and displays it to the pilot, in order to provide an image in which the scene and objects in it can be better detected. In ...

as standard equipment. * 2004 -

Paul Allen Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...

Doug Shane Douglas Bennett Shane is President of The Spaceship Company, as well as an American test pilot who has trained as a commercial astronaut. He was a member of the Scaled Composites astronaut team and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the ex ...

Mike Melvill Michael Winston Melvill (born November 30, 1940 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a world-record-breaking pilot and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipO ...

Brian Binnie William Brian Binnie (April 26, 1953 – September 15, 2022) was a United States Navy officer and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites and flown from 2003 to 2004. Early life Bin ...

, and the

SpaceShipOne SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3,000 ft/s (900 m/s, 3240 km/h), using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" a ...

team for the first privately designed, funded, built, and flown commercial manned space-launch vehicle. * 2005 -

Eclipse Aviation The Eclipse Aviation Corporation was the Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States-based manufacturer of the Eclipse 500 very light jet (VLJ), and also at one time proposed developing the Eclipse 400 single-engined jet. The company was founded ...

for producing the

Eclipse 500 The Eclipse 500 (model EA500) is a very light jet (VLJ) originally produced by Eclipse Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. The company was founded in 1998 to develop the 1997 Williams V-Jet II demonstrator. The prototype first ...

, the world's first

very light jet A very light jet (VLJ), entry-level jet or personal jet, previously known as a microjet, is a category of small business jets seating four to eight people. VLJs are considered the lightest business jets and are approved for single-pilot operati ...

. * 2006 -

, and

for producing the

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...

. * 2007 - Automatic Dependent Surveillance-broadcast ( ADS-B) team that includes

AOPA The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is a Frederick, Maryland-based American non-profit political organization that advocates for general aviation. AOPA's membership consists mainly of general aviation pilots in the United States ...

ALPA Alpa was formerly a Switzerland, Swiss camera design company and manufacturer of 135 film, 35 mm Single-lens reflex camera, SLR cameras. The current owners bought the company name after bankruptcy of the original company and the company exists ...

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

ERAU Erau is an Indonesian biennial cultural festival, taking place in the city of Tenggarong, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan. The word ''Erau'' is derived from the Kutai word ''eroh'', meaning crowded, noisy, joyful. Legend of Erau The legen ...

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication * Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional type theory B ...

MITRE The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in ...

UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...

, and ACSS for supporting NextGen. * 2008 - The Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) for reducing commercial scheduled airline fatalities. * 2009 - The

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

team including

Draper Laboratory Draper Laboratory is an American non-profit research and development organization, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts; its official name is The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc (sometimes abbreviated as CSDL). The laboratory specialize ...

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance (ULA), legally United Launch Alliance, LLC, is an American spacecraft launch service provider that manufactures and operates a number of rocket vehicles that are capable of launching spacecraft into orbits around Earth, a ...

United Technologies United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems ...

for the world's largest spacecraft. * 2010 - The

Corp.

Sikorsky X2 The Sikorsky X2 is an experimental high-speed compound helicopter with coaxial rotors, developed by Sikorsky Aircraft, that made its first flight in 2008 and was officially retired in 2011. Design and development Sikorsky developed the X2 heli ...

Technology Demonstrator team for revolutionary helicopter development. * 2011 -

for designing, building, delivering, and supporting the

787 Dreamliner The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...

. * 2012 -

JPL The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

Mars Science Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is a robotic spacecraft, robotic space probe mission to Mars launched by NASA on November 26, 2011, which successfully landed ''Curiosity (rover), Curiosity'', a Mars rover, in Gale (crater), Gale Crater on August ...

Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans ...

project team for their successful Mars mission. * 2013 -

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

/Industry team for designing, building, and demonstrating the

X-47B The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for aircraft carrier-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the X-47 project began as part of DARPA' ...

; and for the aircraft's ability to autonomously operate from and perform arrested landings upon an aircraft carrier. * 2014 -

for producing the

G650 The Gulfstream G650 is a large business jet produced by Gulfstream Aerospace.

. * 2015 - The NASA-

Dawn Mission ''Dawn'' is a retired space probe that was launched by NASA in September 2007 with the mission of studying two of the three known protoplanets of the asteroid belt: Vesta and Ceres. In the fulfillment of that mission—the ninth in NASA's Dis ...

team for orbiting and exploring

protoplanet A protoplanet is a large planetary embryo that originated within a protoplanetary disc and has undergone internal melting to produce a differentiated interior. Protoplanets are thought to form out of kilometer-sized planetesimals that gravitationa ...

Vesta and dwarf planet

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

. * 2016 - The

Blue Origin Blue Origin, LLC is an American private spaceflight, privately funded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company headquartered in Kent, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Am ...

team for demonstrating rocket booster reusability with the

New Shepard New Shepard is a fully reusable suborbital launch vehicle developed by Blue Origin for space tourism. The vehicle is named after Alan Shepard, the first American astronaut in space. The vehicle is capable of vertical takeoff and vertical land ...

human spaceflight vehicle. * 2017 -

Cirrus Aircraft The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft manufacturer that was founded in 1984 by Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30 kit aircraft. The company is owned by a subsidia ...

for designing, certifying, and entering-into-service the

SF50 Vision The Cirrus Vision SF50, also known as the Vision Jet, is a single-engine very light jet designed and produced by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota, United States. After receiving deposits starting in 2006, Cirrus unveiled an aircraft mock- ...

, the first single-engine personal jet; and for their inclusion of the

Cirrus Airframe Parachute System The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) is a whole-plane ballistic parachute recovery system designed specifically for Cirrus Aircraft's line of general aviation light aircraft including the SR20, SR22 and SF50. The design became the firs ...

(CAPS) on the aircraft. * 2018 - The

Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System The Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS) enhances safety by mitigating controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents. The Auto-GCAS team was awarded the 2018 Collier Trophy for the design-integration and flight testing in th ...

(Auto-GCAS) team, which includes the

Air Force Research Laboratory The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...

, Lockheed Martin, the

F-35 The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

Joint Program Office, and NASA for lifesaving technology. * 2019 - The USAF-Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Team for developing and employing the world's only reusable, autonomous spaceplane. * 2020 -

Garmin Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...

for designing, developing, and fielding Garmin Autoland – the world's first certified autonomous system that activates during an emergency to safely control and land an aircraft without human intervention. * 2021 - The

/'' Ingenuity'' team for the first powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet, thereby opening the skies of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

and other worlds for future scientific discovery and exploration.

Gallery

File:HoffmanCollierTrophyfromPresCoolidge.jpg, 1926 Collier Trophy President

Calvin Coolidge Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican lawyer ...

presented to

for the modern freefall

File:1927 Collier Trophy presented by President Coolidge to Charles Lawrance (cropped).jpg, 1927 Collier Trophy President Coolidge presented to

Charles Lawrance Charles Lanier Lawrance (September 30, 1882 – June 24, 1950) was an American aeronautical engineer and an early proponent of air-cooled aircraft engines. Early life Lawrance was born on September 30, 1882 in Lenox, Massachusetts, the son of Fr ...

for the air-cooled aircraft

File:Harold Frederick Pitcairn portrait in 1930 with the Collier Trophy.jpg, 1930 Collier Trophy recipient

for the

File:1933 Collier Trophy President Roosevelt congratulates Frank W. Caldwell.jpg, 1933 Collier Trophy President

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president *Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Roosevel ...

congratulates Frank W. Caldwell of

for the controllable-pitch propeller File:1939 Collier Trophy Dr. Walter Meredith Boothby, William Randolph Lovelace II, and Harry George Armstrong.jpg, 1939 Collier Trophy President Roosevelt congratulates US

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

s Dr. Walter Meredith Boothby,

William Randolph Lovelace II William Randolph Lovelace II (December 30, 1907 – December 12, 1965) was an American physician who made contributions to aerospace medicine. Biography He studied medicine at the Harvard Medical School and graduated in 1934. His residences ...

, and

Harry George Armstrong Harry George Armstrong (February 17, 1899 – February 5, 1983) was a major general in the United States Air Force, a physician, and an airman. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of aviation medicine. The "Armstrong limit", the alti ...

File:Lew Rodert accepting the Collier Trophy from President Harry S Truman in December 1947.jpg, 1946 Collier Trophy President Truman congratulates Lewis A. Rodert for the thermal aircraft

anti-icing Deicing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only deice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or preve ...

File:1951CollierTrophy Truman n John Stack.jpg, 1952 Collier Trophy President Truman congratulates John Stack for the Langley transonic wind tunnel File:Vice President Nixon awards 1958 Collier Trophy.jpg, 1958 Collier Trophy with (L to R) Walter W. Irwin, Howard C. Johnson, US VP Nixon,

, Neil Burgess, Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson File:1966CollierTrophyJames Smith McDonnell.jpg, 1966 Collier Trophy with James Smith McDonnell Jr. founder of

McDonnell Aircraft Corporation The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II ...

for the

and

File:Jsc2011e075769 orig.jpg, 1973 Collier Trophy VP Ford congratulates

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...

Program Director William C. Schneider File:1992 CollierTrophyGPS.jpg, 1992 Collier Trophy for the Global Positioning System File:2011 Collier Trophy Recipient, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, and Collier Selection Committee.jpg, 2011 Collier Trophy presented to

for the

File:2014 Collier Trophy Presentation, Northrop Grumman X-47B.JPG, 2013 Collier Trophy presented to

for the

File:2015 Collier Trophy Presentation, Gulfstream G-650.JPG, 2014 Collier Trophy presented to

Gulfstream The Gulf Stream is a warm Atlantic Ocean current. Gulf Stream or Gulfstream may also refer to: Places *Gulf Stream, Florida, a town in the United States Art, entertainment, and media *''Gulf Stream Magazine'', a literary magazine at Florida Intern ...

for the

G650 The Gulfstream G650 is a large business jet produced by Gulfstream Aerospace.

References

{{Reflist

External links

''One Hundred Years of the Collier Trophy''
"The

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

"--

The Collier Trophy
– contains listing of the winners up to 2006

October 10, 1963 - President John F. Kennedy remarks upon presenting the Collier Trophy to the Mercury Seven * ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOLe6RbomgA787 Dreamliner joins proud legacy of Boeing Collier Trophy wins Aviation awards

Recipients

Gallery

See also

References

External links