2010 Stellar Awards Winners
The 2010 RNASA Stellar Award winners in each of four categories were announced at the banquet on September 3, 2010 at the Houston Hyatt Regency hotel.
The 2010 nominations of 103 individuals and 33 teams were evaluated by former National Associate Administrator for Space Systems Development, Arnold D. Aldrich, and former National Space Trophy winners, Drs. Christopher C. Kraft Jr. and Glynn S. Lunney.
A list of all the Stellar Awards nominees was printed in the 2010 program book.
The 2010 Stellar Awards were presented by Astronauts Michael Foreman and K. Megan McArthur.
2010 Stellar Award Winners
Caption L to R: Back row: Mason (middle), Kelly (early), Campbell (middle), Patz (team), Zeitler (middle), Henderson (late), Fitzgerald (middle), Prouty (early), Zimpfer (team), Wiley (middle), Vyoral (early), Menkin (middle), White (early), Ess (team), Romero (team), Oliva (team). Front row: Bell (middle), Kakuska (middle), Kan (late), Clubb (late), Witherup (late), Putnam (early), Peterson (early), Willcoxon (middle), Hess (team).(NASA) Click for high resolution.
Early Career Stellar Award Winners
Six awards were presented in the 2010 Early Career Category.
Caption L to R: Foreman (presenting), White, Vyoral, Putnam, Peterson, Prouty, Kelly, McArthur (presenting). (NASA) Click for a high resolution copy.
Daniel P. Kelly of MEI Technologies, Inc. for outstanding innovation in the advancement of detector technology, including development and fabrication of the micro-shutter array for the James Webb Space Telescope.
Capt. Gina A. Peterson of USAF for extraordinary leadership in sustaining the GPS atomic clock industrial base and the design of the GPS III satellite payload which is critical to national security, economic prosperity, and international agreements.
Christopher B. Prouty of Lockheed Martin for outstanding human spaceflight contributions in the areas of EVA and Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle parachute systems that improved crew safety and ensured mission success.
Zachary R. Putnam of Draper Laboratory for excellence and innovation in development and implementation of the skip entry guidance algorithms to enable Orion lunar missions.
Lee Vyoral of Oceaneering Space Systems for outstanding leadership, unwavering attention to detail and exemplary work ethic in managing the development, delivery, and sustaining engineering of EVA space hardware.
Shawn R. White of Honeywell Aerospace Engineering & Technology for innovative application of technical knowledge and leadership skills in the development of Orion abort decision logic requirements.
2010 Middle Career Stellar Award Winners
Nine awards were presented in the 2010 Middle Career Category.
Caption L to R: McArthur (presenting), Mason, Kakuska, Fitzgerald, Campbell, Bell, Menkin, Wiley, Willcoxon, Zeitler, and Foreman (presenting).
(NASA) Click for a high resolution copy.
Bradley N. Bell of L-3 Communications for pioneering efforts in developing unrivaled state-of-the-art 3D computer graphics rendering software used in astronaut and flight controller training systems and in engineering analyses for the Space Shuttle, ISS, and Constellation vehicles.
Dr. Charles H. Campbell of NASA JSC for unparalleled leadership and technical excellence in the area of hypersonic aerosciences, supporting both current and future human space exploration.
Dr. Edward J. Fitzgerald of The Boeing Company for outstanding technical leadership of a geographically diverse rocket propulsion engineering team on the space shuttle orbiter.
Reed A. Kakuska of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for unwavering pursuit of innovative approaches to complex propulsion issues enabling sustained mission success for Atlas V and Delta IV upper stages.
Lee S. Mason of NASA Glenn Research Center for outstanding leadership and technical contributions leading a multi-agency technical team in the development of power system technology and components resulting in an affordable space nuclear power system for NASA's Fission Surface Power Project for use on the lunar and Martian surfaces.
Dr. Evgeny V. Menkin of ARES Corporation for exemplary contributions to visiting vehicle integration that increased safety and reliability, reduced costs, and simplified ISS operations.
Samuel R. Wiley of Aerojet for exceptional spacecraft propulsion system leadership, including successful development and flight of the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) and Mercury Surface Space Environment Geochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecrafts.
Rita G. Willcoxon of NASA Kennedy Space Center for exceptional leadership of the NASA Launch Vehicle Processing Directorate to implement the Agency's goal of safe completion of the Space Shuttle Program and help lead the nation's space program into the future.
Richard J. Zeitler of United Space Alliance for exceptional skill, dedication and personal hands-on commitment to ensure safe and reliable performance of the orbiter through leadership of a large, complex team to address a broken poppet in the orbiter main propulsion system flow control valve.
2010 Late Career Stellar Award Winners
Five awards were presented in the 2010 Late Career Category.
Caption L to R: Foreman (presenting), Henderson, Kan, Witherup, Clubb, and McArthur (presenting). Hartnett not pictured. (NASA) Click for a high resolution copy.
Jerry J. Clubb of ATK Space Systems for outstanding technical excellence in the field of spacecraft avionics development and operations with significant contributions to America's flagship Human Space Flight and Exploration Programs.
George E. Hartnett of The Boeing Company for exceptional performance leading the Loads and Dynamics Analysis Team's efforts to mitigate STS-129 Space Shuttle main engine ignition and overpressure technical concerns, enabling mission success.
Edward M. Henderson of NASA JSC for exceptional achievement leading the Shuttle Derived Heavy Lift Vehicle Study Team.
Kenneth C. Kan of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for outstanding leadership for more than 34 years to the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Flight and Test team, contributing to the safety the Space Shuttle.
Larry A. Witherup of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for distinguished career and excellence in meeting the demands of space flight.
2010 Team Stellar Award Winners
Six awards were presented in the 2010 Team Category.
Caption L to R: McArthur (presenting), Romero, Ess, Oliva, Zimpfer, Patz, Ballard, Hess, and Foreman (presenting).
(NASA) Click for a high resolution copy.
Ares I-X First-Stage Team of ATK Space Systems for successful development of the integrated propulsion vehicle, enabling the Ares I-X launch. Joe Oliva accepted the award on behalf of the team.
Ares I-X Team of NASA for successful completion of the Ares I-X test flight, the first new vehicle tested at Kennedy Space Center since 1981, and the tallest current rocket in the world. Bob Ess accepted the award on behalf of the team.
Hyperspectral Imager for the Coastal Ocean Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System Experiment Payload (HREP) of USAF for successful deployment of HREP, the first major Earth observing payload on the ISS and the first U.S. payload to fly on the Japanese Lab Exposed Facility. David Hess and Perry Ballard accepted the award on behalf of the team.
One EVA Team of Hamilton Sundstrand for outstanding track record of successful EVA missions allowing NASA to complete ISS, Hubble and Space Shuttle operations. David Romero accepted the award on behalf of the team.
RL10 Assured Access to Space of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for outstanding technical excellence and execution during the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle RL10 Assured Access to Space Program which designed and qualified reliability enhancements to the RL10 engine system. Rich Patz accepted the award on behalf of the team.
Shuttle Orbit Flight Control Team of Draper Laboratory for exceptional contributions in developing, certifying and providing real-time support of the Space Shuttle orbiter flight control system to enable assembly of the ISS. Doug Zimpfer accepted the award on behalf of the team.
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