1989 - 1996 Stellar Awards Winners
Stellar Awards were first presented in 1989. Four awards to individuals were presented in 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993. No awards were given in 1992 or 1994. Please note that prior to 1997, the winners were not categorized by age.
Although all RNASA events were photographed, and prints made available to awardees afterwards, only a subset of the originals were catalogued in the JSC archive - mostly images of JSC employees. If you have photos of award winners prior to 2004 that you'd be willing to have copied/scanned for our online archive, please contact Marianne Dyson. Thank you!
See Stellar Award Winners from 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1993 | 1995 | 1996
1996 Stellar Award Winners
The 1996 RNASA Stellar Award winners were announced at the banquet on February 15, 1996 at Houston Hyatt Regency.
The 1996 Stellar Awards were presented by GB Tech Incorporated Corporate President, Mr. Charles A. Jacobson.
| For | Year | Winner | Company | Citation |
| Global Positioning System | 1996 | Jules G. McNeff | Department of Defense | For being instrumental in coordinating the effective dual-use of GPS technology developed through a Department of Defense acquisition program. Through his efforts, a space-based military capability has been made available to commercial users with great economic benefit to the United States. |
| Quality Engineering | 1996 | Dwight L. Woolhouse | Rockwell Downey | For his leadership in providing safe and reliable space systems for the restructured Shuttle Program, his strong focus on his customers, his extreme responsiveness to program needs, and as a recognized leader in the quality engineering filed. He has implemented new approaches to accomplishing product assurance which have not only saved only, but improved product quality as well. |
1995 Stellar Award Winners
The 1995 RNASA Stellar Award winners were announced at the banquet on February 16, 1995 at Houston Hyatt Regency.
The 1995 Stellar Awards were presented by Johnson Space Center Former Director, Dr. Christopher Kraft.
| Category | Year | Winner | Company | Citation |
| Launch Vehicle Development | 1995 | Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) Single Stage Rocket Technology Team | McDonnell Douglas | For their outstanding work in design, construction, and flight demonstration of a prototype reusable rocket. The DC-X is considered the first step in this country's development of a single-stage-to-orbit space transportation system which promises to lower the cost to orbit and eventually provide public access to space. |
| Spacecraft Design | 1995 | Clementine Project Team | Naval Research Laboratory | For their work in demonstrating the capability to design, develop, and operate a successful and meaningful space mission at low cost...the mission was to test space-based imaging components for the next generation of DoD spacecraft. Using the Moon as a target, Clementine would return valuable new images of the lunar surface. |
1994
No Stellar Awards were presented in 1994.
1993 Stellar Award Winners
The 1993 RNASA Stellar Award winners were announced at the banquet on Spring 1993 at Houston Hyatt Regency.
The 1993 Stellar Awards were presented by Johnson Space Center Former Director, Dr. Christopher Kraft
| Category | Year | Winner | Company | Citation |
| Program Management | 1993 | Peter G. Wilhelm | Naval Research Laboratory | He has pioneered many innovations in satellite engineering.His commitment to programs such as the Multiple Satellite Dispenser and the Shuttle Launch Dispenser has saved millions of dollars in booster and launch vehicle costs. |
| Propulsion | 1993 | Otto Goetz | His successful efforts on the development and testing of the propulsion systems on the Saturn launch vehicle during the Apollo program led to work on the Space Shuttle Main Engine. The testing methods he designed during the development phase of the SSME were critical to the success and safety of the Shuttle. | |
| Manufacturing | 1993 | Charles Caughren | Rockwell International | As the Palmdale Site Director for Rockwell's Orbiter Final Assembly and Test Operations, he motivates his people to unprecedented accomplishment in a time of stringent cost constraints. |
| History | 1993 | Dr. Roger Bilstein | University of Houston Clear Lake | For writing space history articles for national government agencies, major encyclopedias, research publications, aerospace periodicals, and business journals. |
1992
No Stellar Awards were presented in 1992.
1991 Stellar Award Winners
The 1991 RNASA Stellar Award winners were announced at the banquet on February 28, 1991 at Houston Hyatt Regency.
The 1991 Stellar Awards were presented by Johnson Space Center Former Director, Dr. Christopher Kraft.
| Category | Year | Winner | Company | Citation |
| Space Life Sciences | 1991 | Dr. Sam Lee Pool | NASA Johnson Space Center | For his achievement in developing and applying space research and technology to medical programs on Earth. He was instrumental in identifying the medical problems associated with weightlessness in space...and his participation in a variety of medical research programs which helped define man's capabilities to work safely and productively in space. |
| Astronomy | 1991 | Dr. John C. Mather | For expanding mankind's knowledge of this universe...with contributions for the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite...which has reported the most precise measurement ever made of the Big Bang residual radiation. | |
| Operations Support | 1991 | Dale L. Fahnestock | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | As Director of the Mission Operations and Data Systems Directorate, he is responsible for the activities of an internationally recognized research and development organization comprised of the TDRS Network, the network of ground tracking and data acquisition stations, the worldwide NASA communication system and numerous satellite control and data processing centers which provide support for the Space Shuttle, Spacelab and Hubble Space Telescope. |
| Military Service | 1991 | CMSgt Thomas M. Ball | United Space Air Force | For his career long commitment to America's military space program...[and his] tireless promotion of the Air Force's space program and lasting contributions which have helped make our nation more secure. |
1990 Stellar Award Winners
The 1990 RNASA Stellar Award winners were announced at the banquet on February 15, 1990 at Houston Hyatt Regency.
| Category | Year | Winner | Company | Citation |
| Legislative Support | 1990 | Marcia S. Smith | Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress | At the CRS, Smith serves as a policy analyst for the members and committees of the U.S. Congress on matters concerning military and civilian space activities around the world. |
| Visual Arts | 1990 | Robert T. McCall | For his career as a space artist [which] began in the early Mercury days. Since then, he has chronicled the U.S. space program through his elaborate, creative illustrations. | |
| News Media | 1990 | Craig P. Covault | Aviation Week & Space Technology | For writing close to a thousand articles on space, covering virtually all U.S. and Soviet manned and unmanned space missions...His reporting from the White House on space policy helped set the national space leadership agenda. |
| Flight Control | 1990 | Richard Brown | NASA Johnson Space Center | For being instrumental in pioneering the flight control concepts and techniques used in all manned space missions from Mercury to Space Shuttle. As supervisor of electrical and environmental systems at the Johnson Space Center, Brown trains many flight controllers in operational electrical analysis techniques. |
1989 Stellar Award Winners
The 1989 RNASA Stellar Award winners were announced at the banquet on Spring 1989 at Houston Hyatt Regency.
| Category | Year | Winner | Company | Citation |
| Launch Vehicle / Spacecraft Processing | 1989 | Robert B. Sieck | NASA Kennedy Space Center | For his dedication to the successful preparation and launching of our nation's manned spacecraft..., his career long commitment to "keep 'em flying", and most especially, for the safe and successful return to flight of STS 26 and STS 27. |
| Academic Development | 1989 | Dr. Alexander J. Dessler | Rice University | For his career-long service to higher education in the field of space science...Dr. Dessler's personal contributions to our understanding of the universe have been immense. But perhaps his most significant contribution has been the generations of space scientists that he has influenced to pursue a career in the nation's space program. |
| Military Service | 1989 | Col. Roger G. DeKok | United States Air Force | For his career long commitment to America's military space program. A member of the U.S. Air Force, Colonel DeKok has held a wide variety of space systems operational and staff positions during his twenty year in the service. |
| News and Information Service | 1989 | Charles A. "Chuck" Biggs | NASA Johnson Space Center | For nearly 25 years, Mr. Biggs has provided information service and space exhibits to the public for their education and entertainment...In a span of 19 years, he displayed America's space program to the world through many international air shows and world's fairs. |
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