Space Pioneer Awards or NSS Space Pioneer Awards are the annual awards given by

National Space Society The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Comb ...

, an independent non-profit educational membership organisation, to individuals and teams who have opened the space frontier. The awards are given in 13 categories. Generally, three or more Space Pioneer awards are given per year, so not every category is awarded each year.

Categories

The 13 categories in which award could be given are: # Business / Corporate # Business / Entrepreneur # Compelling Art # Educator / Education # Government Service (Non-legislative) # Government Service (Legislative) # Mass Media # Public Awareness # Scientist / Engineer # Service to the Space Community # Space Development # Special Merit # Wide Media

List of recipients

* 2018 - Thomas Mueller cience and Engineering * 2015 - Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), (

Mars Orbiter Mission The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called ''Mangalyaan'', was a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was India's first interplanetary missi ...

) * 2011 -

Elon Musk Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The ...

usiness Entrepreneur* 2011 -

Robert Bigelow Robert Thomas Bigelow (born May 12, 1944) is an American businessman. He owns the hotel chain Budget Suites of America and is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace. In 2011, ''Forbes'' estimated his net worth to be $700 million. Bigelow has provi ...

pace Development* 2011 - X-51A Waverider Team cience and Engineering* 2011 -

Paul Spudis Paul D. Spudis (1952–2018) was an American geologist and lunar scientist. His specialty was the study of volcanism and impact processes on the planets, including Mercury and Mars. Spudis was well known as a leading advocate of a return to ...

cientific or Engineering Paper* 2011 - Gordon R. Woodcock ifetime of Service to the Space Community* 2011 - George T. Whitesides ervice to the Space Community *2010 - Ray D. Bradbury ass Media*2010 - George T. Whitesides ervice to the Space Community*2010 - NASA-Ames LCROSS Mission Team cience and Engineering *2009 -

Indian Space Research Organization The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman ...

(ISRO) cience and Engineering*2009 - John C. Mankins pace Development*2009 -

Brian G. Marsden Brian Geoffrey Marsden (5 August 1937 – 18 November 2010) was a British astronomer and the longtime director of the Minor Planet Center (MPC) at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian (director emeritus from 2006 to 2010). ...

ervice to the Space Community*2009 - Russell L. Schweickart istoric Space Achievement *2008 - "The Caballeros" Col. Mike Hornitschek, USAF, Col. M.V. “Coyote” Smith, USAF, Lt. Col. Peter Garretson, USAF, Lt. Col. Paul Damphousse, USMC, and Gen. James Armor (Ret.) pace Development*2008 - Anita E. Gale ducation*2008 - Al Globus ducation*2008 - Patricia Grace Smith overnment Service (Non-legislative) *2007 - Kenneth Cox pace Development*2007 -

Heinz-Hermann Koelle Heinz-Hermann Koelle (22 July 1925, in Danzig, Free City of Danzig – 20 February 2011, in Berlin, Germany) was an aeronautical engineer who made the preliminary designs on the rocket that would emerge as the Saturn I. Closely associated wi ...

pecial Merit *2006 -

usiness/Entrepreneur*2006 - JAXA HAYABUSA (MUSES-C) Mission Team cientist/Engineer*2006 - Michael Griffin pace Development *2005 -

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 ...

usiness/Entrepreneur*2005 -

Mars Exploration Rover NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, '' Spirit'' and '' Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rovers to explore the Martian surface ...

Team, accepted by Dr. Steven Squyres cientist/Engineer*2005 - Dr. Boris Smeds, ESA, for Cassini/Huygens mission cientist/Engineer *2004 - Rep.

Sherwood Boehlert Sherwood Louis Boehlert (September 28, 1936September 20, 2021) was an American politician from New York. He represented a large swath of central New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 until 2007. Boehlert, a Republican, ...

overnment Service (Legislative)*2004 - Gary Pearce Barnhard pecial Merit - Space Activist of the Year*2004 - Randall Severy pecial Merit - Space Activist of the Year *2001 - Leonard David ass Media*2001 - Dr. Robert Farquhar, Mission Director, and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) Mission Team cientist/Engineer *1998 - George French for MoonLink usiness/Entrepreneur*1998 - Alan Binder cientist/Engineer *1997 - Greg Allison usiness/Entrepreneur*1997 - Rep.

James Sensenbrenner Frank James Sensenbrenner Jr. (; born June 14, 1943) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 2021 (numbered as the 9th district until 2003). He is a member of the Republican Party. ...

, for Commercial Space Act of 1997 overnment Service (Legislative)*1997 - Mars meteorite team cientist/Engineer*1997 - Lori Garver pecial Merit *1996 - Charlie Chafer usiness/Entrepreneur*1996 - Jeff Kluger ass Media*1996 -

Peter Diamandis Peter H. Diamandis (; born May 20, 1961) is a Greek-American engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation, cofounder and executive chairman of Singularity University and coauthor of ' ...

pecial Merit *1995 - Glenn Heinmiller ass Media*1995 - General

Daniel Graham Daniel Lawrence Graham (born November 16, 1978) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Colorado, and was recognized as a consensus All-American. He was ...

pecial Merit*1995 - Dr.

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 ...

pecial Merit *1994 - Dr. Stewart Nozette cientist/Engineer*1994 - Tim Kyger pecial Merit *1993 - McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Delta Clipper Team usiness/Corporate*1993 - Dr.

Daniel Goldin Daniel Saul Goldin (born July 23, 1940) served as the 9th and longest-tenured Administrator of NASA from April 1, 1992, to November 17, 2001. He was appointed by President George H. W. Bush and also served under Presidents Bill Clinton and Geo ...

pecial Merit *1992 -

Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was renamed "Westinghouse Electric Corporation" in ...

Commercial and Civil Space Division usiness/Corporate*1992 - Barbara Morgan ducation*1992 - Sen.

Barbara Mikulski Barbara Ann Mikulski ( ; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she also served in the United States House of Repr ...

overnment Service (Legislative) *1991 - Women in Aerospace ublic Awareness*1991 -

K. Eric Drexler Kim Eric Drexler (born April 25, 1955) is an American engineer best known for studies of the potential of molecular nanotechnology (MNT), from the 1970s and 1980s. His 1991 doctoral thesis at Massachusetts Institute of Technology was revised and ...

pace Development *1990 - Orbital Sciences Corporation usiness/Corporate*1990 - Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology usiness/Entrepreneur*1990 - Rep. Ron Packard overnment Service (Legislative)*1990 - Lyman Spitzer, Jr. cientist/Engineer *1989 - 3M Corporation usiness/Corporate*1989 - James Bennett usiness/Entrepreneur*1989 - Pat Rawlings ompelling Art*1989 - The Challenger Center ducation*1989 - Sen.

Jake Garn Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn (born October 12, 1932) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who served as a United States senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993. Garn became the first sitting member of Congress to fly in sp ...

overnment Service (Legislative)*1989 - Wendell Mendell cientist/Engineer *1988 - Gilbert W. Keyes, Boeing usiness/Corporate*1988 -

Byron Lichtenberg Byron Kurt Lichtenberg, Sc. D. (born February 19, 1948) is an American engineer and fighter pilot who flew aboard two NASA Space Shuttle missions as a Payload Specialist. In 1983, he and Ulf Merbold became the STS-9, first Payload Specialists to f ...

usiness/Entrepreneur*1988 - Dermot Burke and the Princeton Ballet for “A Tribute” ompelling Art*1988 -

Kamil Naguib Kamil is a name used in a number of languages. Kamil () is a Polish language, Polish, Czech language, Czech, and Slovak language, Slovak given name, equivalent to the Italian Camillo, Spanish/Portuguese Camilo and French Camille (given name) ...

, World Aerospace Education Foundation ducation*1988 - Rep.

George Brown, Jr. George Edward Brown Jr. (March 6, 1920 – July 15, 1999) was an American Democratic politician from California. He represented suburban portions of Los Angeles County in the United States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1971 and parts of t ...

overnment Service (Legislative)*1988 - Doug Morrow, Richard MacLeod, U.S. Space Foundation ass Media*1988 - Thomas Rogers cientist/Engineer*1988 - Craig Covault ide Media

References

{{reflist Space advocacy organizations Space-related awards

Categories

List of recipients

See also

References