The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 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 th ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both military

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

s and civilian employees. The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is awarded to those who display distinguished service, ability, or courage, and have personally made a contribution representing substantial progress to the NASA mission. The contribution must be so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate. Typical presentations of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal included awards to senior NASA administrators, mission control leaders, and astronauts who have completed several successful space flights. Due to the prestige of the award, the decoration is authorized for wear on active uniforms of the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

. Another such authorized decoration is the

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astrona ...

. Upon the recommendation of NASA, the president may award an even higher honor to astronauts, the

Congressional Space Medal of Honor The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and con ...

. The medal was original awarded by the

National Advisory Committee for 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 ...

and was inherited by NASA. The first NASA version (type I), featuring 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 ...

, was issued from 1959 until 1964, when it was replaced by the current type II medal (shown). Webb-nasa-distinguished-ser

Recipients

1959

* John W. Crowley, Jr., NASA Director of Aeronautical and Space Research

1961

Alan Shepard Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he beca ...

(May 8) * Virgil I. Grissom (July 22)

1962

* John Glenn *

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 ...

Scott Carpenter Malcolm Scott Carpenter (May 1, 1925 – October 10, 2013) was an American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, astronaut, and aquanaut. He was one of the Mercury Seven astronauts selected for NASA's Project Mercury ...

Wally Schirra Walter Marty Schirra Jr. (, March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' f ...

(October 15) *

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 For ...

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 spee ...

pilot * Robert White, X-15 pilot * Joseph A. Walker, X-15 pilot * Walter C. Williams

1963

Gordon Cooper Leroy Gordon "Gordo" Cooper Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004) was an American aerospace engineer, test pilot, United States Air Force pilot, and the youngest of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first human spa ...

1965

(December 30) (second award)

1968

* James Webb * Alexander Flax

1969

1970

1972

* Charles M. Duke *

Paul Werner Gast Paul Werner Gast (September 11, 1930 – May 16, 1973) was an American geochemist and geologist. He was born in Chicago to German immigrants and attended Wheaton College, Illinois, whence he graduated in 1952. He earned a Ph.D. from Columbia Un ...

William R. Lucas William R. Lucas (born March 1, 1922) was the fourth Director of the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. He served as director from June 15, 1974, to July 3, 1986. Early career Lucas was born in Newbern, Tennessee. He graduated from Memphis ...

* Hans M. Mark * Thomas K. Mattingly * Richard C. McCurdy * William T. Pecora * Dan Schneiderman * John W. Young (second award)

1973

1974

1975

1976

1977

1978

1980

* William H. Bayley

1981

* Robert L. Crippen * Paul C. Donnelly * James B. Odom *

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 ...

John F. Yardley John F. Yardley (February 1, 1925June 26, 2001) was an American engineer who worked for the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). He joined McDonnell in 1946, and contributed to the design ...

* Walter C. Williams (second award)

1984

* Robert O. Aller

1988

* Willis H. Shapley (second award)

1991

* John R. Casani

1992

Berrien Moore III Berrien Moore III is the former director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire and the founding director of Climate Central.Mark Albrecht Mark J. Albrecht (born March 10, 1950) is a senior aerospace and telecommunications executive with broad government and industry experience. He completed his BA and MA from UCLA (Phi Beta Kappa) and PhD from the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He w ...

Story Musgrave Franklin Story Musgrave (born August 19, 1935) is an American physician and a retired NASA astronaut. He is a public speaker and consultant to both Disney's Imagineering group and Applied Minds in California. In 1996, he became only the second a ...

1994

* Joseph H Rothenberg

1995

* Dr. Charles J. Pellerin * Bill G. Aldridge

1996

* Gerald M. Smith

2000

* Joseph H Rothenberg

2001

* Jack Brooks *

Claude Nicollier Claude Nicollier (born 2 September 1944 in Vevey, Switzerland) is the first astronaut from Switzerland. He has flown on four Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight (STS-46) was in 1992, and his final spaceflight (STS-103) was in 1999. He t ...

* Courtney Stadd * James S. Voss * Joseph Philip Loftus

2002

Scott E. Parazynski Scott Edward Parazynski (born July 28, 1961 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, Parazynski's latest mission was STS-120 in October, 2007 – ...

2004

Kalpana Chawla Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 – 1 February 2003) was an Indian-born American astronaut and mechanical engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' in 1997 as a mission speciali ...

* William McCool * Axel Roth * Brock "Randy" Stone * Lott W. Brantley Jr. * G. Scott Hubbard *

Edward T. Lu Edward Tsang "Ed" Lu (; born July 1, 1963) is an American physicist and former NASA astronaut. He flew on two Space Shuttle flights, and made an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. In 2007, Lu retired from NASA to become the Pr ...

2005

* Firouz Naderi

2006

* Eileen M. Collins

2007

* Douglas Hendriksen

2008

Walter Cunningham Ronnie Walter Cunningham (born March 16, 1932) is a retired American astronaut. In 1968, he was a lunar module pilot on the Apollo 7 mission. He was NASA's third civilian astronaut (after Neil Armstrong and Elliot See), and has also been a ...

* Donn Eisele *

Fuk Li Fuk K. Li (李復國; ) is the Director of the Mars Exploration Directorate at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Li's directorate is responsible for JPL's projects exploring Mars, including two orbiters (Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbi ...

Walter Schirra Walter Marty Schirra Jr. (, March 12, 1923 – May 3, 2007) was an American naval aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. In 1959, he became one of the original seven astronauts chosen for Project Mercury, which was the United States' fi ...

(Third Award) *

E. Myles Standish Erland Myles Standish Jr. (born March 5, 1939) is a mathematical astronomer largely working in the field of solar system dynamics and celestial mechanics. He is a former professor at Yale University and had worked for the Jet Propulsion Laborato ...

* Richard Sunseri

2009

* Christopher Scolese * Stephanie D. Wilson

2010

2011

2012

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

References

External links

NASA awards

(1969–1978)
List of NASA medal recipients
{{NASA decorations Awards and decorations of NASA Awards established in 1959 *