NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal
Encyclopedia
The NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (abbreviated ESAM) was established by NASA
on September 15, 1961 when the original ESM was divided into three separate awards. Under the current guidelines, the ESAM is awarded for unusually significant scientific contribution toward achievement of aeronautical or space exploration goals. This award may be given for individual efforts that have resulted in a contribution of fundamental importance in this field, or have significantly enhanced understanding of this field.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
on September 15, 1961 when the original ESM was divided into three separate awards. Under the current guidelines, the ESAM is awarded for unusually significant scientific contribution toward achievement of aeronautical or space exploration goals. This award may be given for individual efforts that have resulted in a contribution of fundamental importance in this field, or have significantly enhanced understanding of this field.
Notable recipients
- 1963 - John HouboltJohn HouboltJohn Cornelius Houbolt is a retired aerospace engineer. He is generally credited with having effectively promoted the lunar mission mode called Lunar Orbit Rendezvous or LOR. This flight path was first endorsed by Wernher von Braun in June 1961 and was chosen for Apollo program in early 1962...
- 1968 - G. Mervin Ault
- 1969 - Charles Berry, William F. Brown, Thomas Canning, Moustafa Chahine, Hong-Yee Chiu, Clarence Cone, James Downey, Erwin Fehlberg, Richard Green, Rudolf Hanel, Webb Haymaker, Gerhard Heller, Harvey Hubbard, James Humphreys, Mark Kelly, James Kupperian, Dale Lumb, Wolfgang Moeckel, Paul Muller, Robert Naumann, William O'Bryant, George Pieper, Henry Plotkin, Joseph Randall, Donald Rea, Nancy Roman, Lee Scherer, William Sjorgen, Charles Sonett, Robert Stone, David Wark, Richard Whitcomb, Donald Wise
- 1970 - William Angele, James Arnold, Paul Coleman, Leverett Davis, Milner Eskew, Herbert Friedman, Paul Gast, Peter Macdoran, Warren Martin, Maurice Morin, Marcia Neugebauer, Edward Perkins, Edward Smith, Conway Snyder, Nelson Spencer, Patrick Thaddeus, Robert Walker, Gerald Wasserburg
- 1971 - John C. Freche
- 1973 - Conway B. LeovyConway B. LeovyConway Leovy, Ph. D., was a professor emeritus of Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysics at the University of Washington, RAND author, former University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Trustee, Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, and American political activist...
- 1974 - John A. Simpson
- 1975 - Edward Purdy Ney
- 1976 - Tito T. Serafini
- 1978 - Alvin Seiff
- 1979 - Milton Halem
- 1980 - Riccardo GiacconiRiccardo GiacconiRiccardo Giacconi is an Italian/American Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who laid the foundations of X-ray astronomy. He is currently a professor at the Johns Hopkins University.- Biography :...
(2002 Nobel Laureate in Physics) - 1981 - Talivaldis Spalvins
- 1982 - Jeff Cuzzi
- 1982 - Prem Chand Pandey, SACSpace Applications CentreThe Space Applications Centre is an institution of research in Ahmedabad, India under the aegis of the Indian Space Research Organization...
/ISRO, NCAORNCAORThe National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research as an Indian research and development institution, and an autonomous Institution of the Department of Ocean Development , Government of India. Situated at Vasco, Goa, it is responsible for administering the Indian Antarctic Program and maintains...
and IIT Kharagpur, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... - 1986 - Jeff Cuzzi, Crofton B. Farmer, Frank J. Grunthaner, Taylor G. Wang
- 1989 - Mario Molina (1995 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry)
- 1990 - Charles Telesco, John W. Harvey, Martin A. PomerantzMartin A. PomerantzMartin Arthur Pomerantz was an American physicist who served as Director of the Bartol Research Institute and who had been a leader in developing Antarctic astronomy. When the astronomical observatory at the United States Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station was opened in 1995, it was named the...
- 1991 - Khairul B. M. Q. Zaman, John C. MatherJohn C. MatherJohn Cromwell Mather is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate for his work on the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite with George Smoot. COBE was the first experiment to measure ".....
(2006 Nobel Laureate in Physics) - 1992 - Nathan S. Jacobson, James A. DiCarlo, George SmootGeorge SmootGeorge Fitzgerald Smoot III is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, Nobel laureate, and $1 million TV quiz show prize winner . He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work on COBE with John C...
(2006 Nobel Laureate in Physics) - 1993 - Rebecca A. MacKay
- 1994 - Robert A. Bindschadler, Theodore E. Bunch, Emmett W. Chappelle, Malcolm M. Cohen, Dale P. Cruikshank, Hay C. Hardin, Alice K. Harding, Donald Horan, Winifred M. Huo, Isabella T. Lewis, Erick Malaret, Camden McCarl, Robert Riesse, Piers J. Sellers, Trevor C. Sorensen, Thomas A. Zang Jr.
- 1995 - James L. Smialek, Maria T. Zuber
- 1996 - Kevin Zahnle
- 1997 - James O. Arnold, David H. Atkinson, David H. Bailey, John E. Carlstrom, Ara Chutjian, John W. Connell, Harald M. Fischer, Everett K. Gibson Jr., William L. Grose, Marshall K. Joy, Kathie L. Thomas-Keprta, Louis J. Lanzerotti, David S. McKay, Michael J. Mumma, Hasso B. Niemann, Glenn S. Orion, Peter A. Pilewskie, Carolyn Purvis, Boris Ragent, Alvin Seiff, Lawrence Sromovsky,Ulf von Zahn, Richard N. Zare
- 1998 - Narottam P. Bansal
- 1999 - Jeff Cuzzi, Martin Weisskopf
- 2000 - Hugh J. Christian Jr., Joan Feynman, Mona J. Hagyard, Yoram J. Kaufman, Ellis E. Remsberg
- 2002 - Thomas P. Charlock
- 2003 - Philip R. ChristensenPhil ChristensenPhil Christensen is a geologist whose research interests focus on the composition, physical properties, processes, and morphology of planetary surfaces, with an emphasis on Mars and the Earth...
, Jean O. Dickey, Geoffrey W. Marcy, Martin G. Mlynczak, Ronald L. Moore, Richard F. Mushotzky, Eric Rignot, Farid Salama, Wei-Kuo Tao - 2004 - Charles L. Bennett, Randall G. Hulet, David P. Kratz, Steven J. Ostro, Thomas L. Sever, Chris R. Webster, Yuk Ling Yung
- 2005 - Ichiro Fukumori, James Houck, Nicholas Leventis, Steven Suess, Michael Watkins
- 2006 - Michael F. A’HearnMichael A'HearnMichael F. A'Hearn is an astronomer and professor at the University of Maryland who is the principal investigator for the NASA EPOXI mission. He was the principal investigator for the NASA Deep Impact mission. He received his bachelors in science at Boston College and his Ph. D in Astronomy at the...
, David CharbonneauDavid CharbonneauDavid Charbonneau is a Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. His research focuses on the development of novel techniques for the detection and characterization of planets orbiting nearby, Sun-like stars...
, Drake Deming, Neil GehrelsNeil GehrelsNeil Gehrels is an astrophysicist specializing in the field of Gamma-ray astronomy. He graduated in 1976 with Bachelor's degrees in music and physics from the University of Arizona. He received his Ph.D. in physics in 1982 from the California Institute of Technology. He is married to Ellen...
, John Le Marshall, Edward C. Stone, Tod Strohmayer, Larry W. Thomason - 2007 - Scott Braun, Donald BrownleeDonald E. BrownleeDon Brownlee is a professor of astronomy at the University of Washington and the principal investigator for NASA's STARDUST mission. His primary research interests include astrobiology, comets, cosmic dust, and porsche evangelism....
, Joan Centrella, Moustafa Chahine, Mark S. Marley, Eric Rignot, Alan Title - 2008 - Anthony Del Genio, David G. Fischer, Gerald M. Heymsfield, Russell A. Howard, Ronald Kwok, Michael I. Mishchenko, Son V. Nghiem
- 2010 - Peter H. Smith, William V. Boynton, Heather L. Enos, Christopher R. Shinohara
- 2011 - Carl J. Grillmair, Suzanne E. Smrekar, Yuhe T. Song