The NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to

U.S. government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, aeronautics, space flight, administration, support, or space-related endeavors which contribute to

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 ...

programs. The medal was inherited by NASA from its predecessor organization, the

National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics 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 ...

(NACA) and featured the NACA emblem. The original NASA version featured the

NASA seal The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) insignia has three main official designs, although the one with stylized red curved text (the "worm") was retired from official use from May 22, 1992, until April 3, 2020, when it was reinst ...

Notable recipients

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

(1969) * Robert O. Aller (twice) *

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

(1966) *

Charles Bolden Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (born August 19, 1946) is a former Administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General, and a former astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. He graduated from the United States Naval A ...

(thrice) * John R. Casani (1965) *

Lin Chambers Lin Chambers (née Hartung) is an American physical scientist. She has developed and contributed to multiple international programs around science education and citizen science at NASA Langley Research Center. Early life and education Chamber ...

(2009) *

Kevin Chilton Kevin Patrick "Chilli" Chilton (born November 3, 1954) is an American mechanical engineer and retired United States Air Force four-star general, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. His last assignment was as commander of U.S. Strategic Command from ...

Eileen Collins Eileen Marie Collins (born 19 November 1956) is a retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force (USAF) colonel. A former flight instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and the first to command a ...

(1998) *

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 ...

(1966) *

Nagin Cox Zainab Nagin Cox (born 1965) is a spacecraft operations engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Asteroid 14061 was named "Nagincox" after her in 2015. She has received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal. Early life and education Cox was born ...

William H. Dana William Harvey "Bill" Dana (November 3, 1930 – May 6, 2014) was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force pilot, NASA test pilot, and astronaut. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spacep ...

Jean Dickey Jean O'Brien Dickey (31 October 1945 – 9 May 2018) was an American scientist. Dickey was a pioneering geodesist and particle physicist with expertise in Earth rotation. After receiving a PhD from Rutgers University, she spent much of her caree ...

(1998) * John H. Disher (twice, last in 1980) *

Einar Enevoldson Einar K. Enevoldson (born June 15, 1932, in Seattle, Washingtondied April 14, 2021) was the director of the Perlan Project. He was a civilian research pilot for NASA's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from 1968 until 1 ...

(1974 and 1980) *

Christer Fuglesang Arne Christer Fuglesang (born 18 March 1957) is a Swedish physicist and an ESA astronaut. He was first launched aboard the STS-116 Space Shuttle mission on 10 December 2006, making him the first Swedish citizen in space. Married with three child ...

(2010) *

Fitzhugh L. Fulton Fitzhugh L. "Fitz" Fulton, Jr. (June 6, 1925 – February 4, 2015), (Lt Col, USAF), was a civilian research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from August 1, 1966, until July 3, 1986, following 23 years of d ...

(1977 and 1983) *

Alfred Gessow Prof. Alfred Gessow (October 13, 1922 – May 2, 2002) was an American pioneer in the field of helicopter aerodynamics and aerospace engineering. He was a co-author of the early rotorcraft engineering text ''Aerodynamics of the Helicopter'', ...

(1974) *

Gus Grissom Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom (April 3, 1926 – January 27, 1967) was an American engineer, pilot in the United States Air Force, and member of the Mercury Seven selected by National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) as Project Mercur ...

* John M. Grunsfeld (1997, 1998, and 2000) *

Umberto Guidoni Umberto Guidoni (born 18 August 1954 in Rome) is an Italian astrophysicist, science writer and a former ESA astronaut, being the first European to visit the International Space Station. He is a veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions. He was ...

(2002) *

Joseph Gutheinz Joseph Richard Gutheinz (born August 13, 1955) is an American attorney, college instructor, commissioner, writer, and former Army intelligence officer, Army aviator, and Federal law enforcement officer. He is known as the founder of the "Moon Ro ...

(2000) *

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also serv ...

(2002) *

Karl Heimburg Karl Ludwig Heimburg (January 29, 1910 - January 26, 1997) was a German-American engineer and Operation Paperclip hire. Heimburg was a member of the " von Braun rocket team" and served as the initial director of the Test Division at the Marshall ...

(1969) * Joan E. Higginbotham *

David M. Jones David M. Jones (December 18, 1913 – November 25, 2008) served with distinction as a pilot and general officer, first with the U.S. Army Air Corps (he entered pilot training in June 1937) and later with the United States Air Force (created on Se ...

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, former astronaut, and United States Navy captain who has served as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was electe ...

* Don Leslie Lind (1974) *

James A. Lovell James Arthur Lovell Jr. (; born March 25, 1928) is an American retired astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot and mechanical engineer. In 1968, as command module pilot of Apollo 8, he became, with Frank Borman and William Anders, one of th ...

(with star) *

Paul D. Lowman Paul D. Lowman (September 21, 1931 – September 29, 2011) was a geophysicist in the Geodynamics Branch of the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, Maryland. Throughout his long career, he ha ...

William S. McArthur William Surles McArthur Jr. (born July 26, 1951) is a retired United States Army colonel and NASA astronaut and a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one expedition to the International Space Station via the Russian Soyuz capsule. Army ...

Pamela Matson Pamela Anne Matson (born 1953) is an American scientist and professor. From 2002 - 2017 she was the dean of the Stanford University School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences. She also previously worked at NASA and at the University of Cal ...

* Saverio "Sonny" Morea (twice) * James B. Odom (1973) *

Robert J. Parks Robert J. "Bob" Parks (April 1, 1922 – June 3, 2011) was a US aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer and pioneer in the space program where he was intricately involved and/or directed for some of the most historic and important U.S. unmanned s ...

(1967) *

Julie Payette Julie Payette (; born October 20, 1963) is a Canadian engineer, scientist and former astronaut who served from 2017 to 2021 as Governor General of Canada, the 29th since Canadian Confederation. Payette holds engineering degrees from McGill ...

(2010) *

Arthur Rudolph Arthur Louis Hugo Rudolph (November 9, 1906 – January 1, 1996) was a German rocket engineer who was a leader of the effort to develop the V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany. After World War II, the United States Government's Office of Strategic Servic ...

Tecwyn Roberts Tecwyn Roberts (10 October 1925 – 27 December 1988) was a Welsh spaceflight engineer who in the 1960s played important roles in designing the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and creating NASA's worldw ...

(1969) * Walter M. Schirra (1964 and 1968) *

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 ...

(1966) *

Deke Slayton Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993) was a United States Air Force pilot, aeronautical engineer, and test pilot who was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts. He went on to become NASA's first ...

Andrew J. Stofan Andrew John Stofan (born January 26, 1935) is an American engineer. He worked for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center). In the 1960s he played an important role in th ...

(1975) * Epaminondas Stassinopoulos (1992) *

Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper Heidemarie Martha Stefanyshyn-Piper (born February 7, 1963) is an American Naval officer and former NASA astronaut. She has achieved the rank of Captain in the United States Navy. She is also a qualified and experienced salvage officer. Her ...

Richard H. Truly Richard Harrison Truly (born November 12, 1937) is a retired Vice admiral (United States), vice admiral in the United States Navy, a former fighter pilot, engineer, astronaut, and was the eighth NASA Administrator, administrator of the NASA, Natio ...

(two awards) *

Peggy Whitson Peggy Annette Whitson (born February 9, 1960) is an American biochemistry researcher, retired NASA astronaut, and former NASA Chief Astronaut. Whitson has a total of 665 days in space, more than any other woman or American. Her first space mi ...

(1993, 2003, 2006, and 2008) * John W. Young (1965 and 1966) * (2007).

References

External links

NASA awards

(1969-1978) {{ODM-stub

Exceptional Service Medal The Exceptional Service Medallion (formally known as the Exceptional Service Emblem) is a civilian decoration of the United States government. It is awarded by the Central Intelligence Agency in recognition of "an employee's injury or death res ...

Notable recipients

See also

References

External links