NASA astronaut Dr. Kathryn Sullivan is the winner of the National Space Society’s 2018 Space Pioneer Award for Non-Legislative Government Service. This award honors the work she did as an astronaut and oceanographer. She flew on the space shuttle three times, including the 1990 mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope, and more recently served as Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NSS invites the public to come meet, interact and learn from the awardees and attend their award ceremonies. NSS will present the Space Pioneer Award to Dr. Sullivan at our annual conference, the 2018 International Space Development Conference (the 37th ISDC) to be held in Los Angeles, California, at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel at LAX. The Conference will run from May 24-27, 2018.
About Dr. Sulllivan
Dr. Sullivan received a Doctorate in Geology from Dalhousie University in 1978. She has participated in oceanographic expeditions in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Her achievements include fifteen years of service as a shuttle astronaut and three very significant flights from 1984 to 1992. On her inaugural mission, she performed the first EVA by an American female astronaut. On the second flight, she delivered the Hubble Space Telescope safely to orbit. On her third mission, she was the payload commander for the very first SpaceLab Mission to Planet Earth. She also served as Director for Ohio State University’s Battelle Center for Mathematics and Science Education Policy. From 2011 until 2017, she served in a variety of senior positions at NOAA, including Chief Scientist, Deputy Administrator, and Administrator. The space program has always looked both outward and inward, and the work on Earth observation and analysis continues to be a major part of the of both NASA and NOAA programs. She is currently working on a book about the Hubble Space Telescope and the maintenance and repair team that made Hubble servicing possible.
About the Space Pioneer Award
The Space Pioneer award consists of a silvery pewter Moon globe cast by the Baker Art Foundry in Placerville, California, from a sculpture originally created by Don Davis, the well-known space and astronomical artist. The globe, which represents multiple space mission destinations and goals, sits freely on a brass support with a wooden base and brass plaque as shown at right. The support and base are created by renowned sculptor Michael Hall of the Studio Foundry of Driftwood, TX. NSS has several different categories under which the award is presented each year, starting in 1988. Some of the recent winners of Space Pioneer Awards include Elon Musk, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bigelow, Apollo Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, Dr. Michael Griffin, the Rosetta Mission Team, the Kepler-K2 Team, and the New Horizons Mission Team.
