2015 NATIONAL SPACE TROPHY RECIPIENT
Colonel Robert D. Cabana
Col. Robert D. Cabana
(NASA photo)
Colonel Cabana is currently serving as the tenth director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the primary United States (U.S.) launch site that has been used for every NASA human space flight since 1968. In this role, Colonel Cabana manages all NASA facilities and activities at Kennedy Space Center, leading a team of dedicated civil service and contractor personnel who operate and support numerous space programs and projects. He has been instrumental in ensuring the successful transition from the Space Shuttle and establishing KSC as a true multiuser spaceport of the future.
Colonel Cabana was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2008. He is the recipient of The Daughters of the American Revolution Award for the top Marine to complete naval flight training in 1976, is a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Naval Test Pilot School, and has logged over 7,000 hours in 50 different kinds of aircraft.
Cabana is a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, an Associate Fellow in the AIAA, and he has received numerous awards and decorations, including the De La Vaulx medal by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1994, the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award, and most recently he was honored with the National Space Club 2013 Dr. Kurt H. Debus Award.
His personal decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, two NASA Medals for Outstanding Leadership, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, and four NASA Space Flight Medals.
A veteran of four space flights, Cabana has logged over 910 hours in space. He served as pilot on STS-41 (October 6-10, 1990) and STS-53 (December 2-9, 1992), and was mission commander on STS-65 (July 8-23, 1994) and STS-88 (December 4-15, 1998), the first ISS assembly mission.
Current as of January 2015