The NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal is an award similar to the

NASA Distinguished Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both milita ...

, but awarded to non-government personnel. This is the highest honor NASA awards to anyone who was not a government employee when the service was performed.

Recipients

1967

Charles Stark Draper Charles Stark "Doc" Draper (October 2, 1901 – July 25, 1987) was an American scientist and engineer, known as the "father of inertial navigation". He was the founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Instrumentat ...

1969

* Harry H. Hess * T. J. O'Malley *

Frederick Seitz Frederick Seitz (July 4, 1911 – March 2, 2008) was an American physicist, a pioneer of solid state physics, and climate change denier. Seitz was the 4th president of Rockefeller University from 1968 to 1978, and the 17th president of the Nation ...

* Charles H. Townes * Russell L. Schweickart

1971

* Joseph G. Gavin * George E. Stoner

1972

Riccardo Giacconi Riccardo Giacconi ( , ; October 6, 1931 – December 9, 2018) was an Italian-American Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist who laid down the foundations of X-ray astronomy. He was a professor at the Johns Hopkins University. Biography Born in ...

* Brian O'Brien * Gerald J. Wasserburg

1973

* Paul B. Blasingame * Joseph F. Clayton *

Leo Goldberg Leopold Goldberg (26 January 1913 – 1 November 1987) was an American astronomer who held professorships at Harvard and the University of Michigan and the directorships of several major observatories. He was president of both the International A ...

* Clinton H. Grace * Robert E. Greer * George W. Jeffs * Thomas J. Kelly * H. Douglas Lowrey * Joseph P. McNamara * James A. Miller * Richard H. Nelson * Jeff Dantowitz *

Frank Press Frank Press (December 4, 1924 – January 29, 2020) was an American geophysicist. He was an advisor to four U.S. presidents, and later served two consecutive terms as president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1981–1993). He was the a ...

* Theodore D. Smith

1974

* Ben G. Bromberg * Jack M. Campbell * Edwin G. Czarnecki *

Harry Dornbrand Harry Dornbrand (November 10, 1922 – May 8, 2022) was an American aerospace engineer, and a leading figure in the development of satellite technologies during the early space race era. He served as Vice President, then President of Fairchild In ...

* Jesse L. Greenstein * Bruce C. Murray * T. J. O'Malley * William G. Purdy

1975

* Grant L. Hansen * Willis M. Hawkins * Richard B. Kershner

1976

* Edward W. Bonnett * Antonio Ferri * Theodore D. Smith *

Lyman Spitzer Lyman Spitzer Jr. (June 26, 1914 – March 31, 1997) was an American theoretical physicist, astronomer and mountaineer. As a scientist, he carried out research into star formation and plasma physics and in 1946 conceived the idea of telesco ...

1977

* Laurence J. Adams * Franklin W. Kolk * Walter O. Lowrie * Thomas G. Pownall *

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including e ...

* Francis B. Sayre * Ronald Smelt *

Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations#List of secretaries-general, secretary-general of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 a ...

1978

* Edward O. Buckbee * Gerald J. Wasserburg

1980

* Clyde W. Tombaugh

1981

Victor van Lint The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

1982

* Harrison H. Schmitt

1983

* Eugene H. Levy

1984

* Erik Quistgaard *

Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols ( ; born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer and dancer whose portrayal of Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels was groundbreaking for African American actresses on A ...

1988

Robert Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

* Carver G. Kennedy

1991

* John T. Radecki *

Rodger Doxsey Rodger Evans Doxsey (March 11, 1947 – October 13, 2009)Overbye, Dennis ''The New York Times'', October 18, 2009. Accessed October 20, 2009. was an American physicist and astronomer who made major contributions to the scientific and operational s ...

* Harlan James Smith * Bert R. Bulkin

1992

* John Bahcall * Berrien Moore III

1993

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter and producer who created the science fiction series and fictional universe ''Star Trek.'' Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up ...

1995

* Robert L. Golden * Bill G Aldridge

1996

* Lori Garver

1997

Norman Ralph Augustine Norman Ralph "Norm" Augustine (born July 27, 1935) is a U.S. aerospace businessman who served as United States Under Secretary of the Army from 1975 to 1977. Augustine served as chairman and CEO of the Lockheed Martin Corporation. He was chai ...

2001

* Alain Bensoussan * James (Jim) F. Berry * Yvonne Brill

2002

* Thomas P. Ackerman * Viktor D. Blagov * Richard D. Blomberg * Vladimir Nikolaevich Dezhurov * Glenn A. Goerke * Audrey Milroy * R. K. Chetty Pandipati * Gerald W. Smith *

Mikhail Tyurin Mikhail Vladislavovich Tyurin (; born March 2, 1960) is a former Russian cosmonaut who flew several missions to the International Space Station and completed four spacewalks during his career. He was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federatio ...

* Yury V. Usachev

2003

* Daniel J. Jacob * Roger J. Bressenden * Hugh (Hamp) Wilson * Roger Chrostowski * Barry Greenberg *

Ilan Ramon Ilan Ramon (; , born Ilan Wolfferman (); June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut. He served as a Space Shuttle payload specialist on STS-107, the fatal mission of '' Columbia ...

Yuri Gidzenko Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko (; born March 26, 1962) is a Russian cosmonaut. He was a test cosmonaut of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (TsPK). Gidzenko has flown into space three times and has lived on board the Mir and the International ...

2004

Neil deGrasse Tyson Neil deGrasse Tyson ( or ; born October 5, 1958) is an American astrophysics, astrophysicist, author, and science communication, science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia Univ ...

* Edward C. "Pete" Aldridge * Maria T. Zuber *

Laurie Leshin Laurie Leshin is an American scientist and academic administrator serving as the 10th Director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and as Vice President and Bren Professor of Geochemistry and Planetary Science at California Institute of Techno ...

*Albert Reville * William H. Webster

2005

* William Sample * Richard Covey * Douglas Stanley * Dennis L. Hartmann

2006

* Daniel J. Heimerdinger * Bob Bishop, D.S. * Bruce H. Wendler

2007

* Jim Banke * David F. Dinges * Paul Lightsey * Lynda Weatherman

2008

* *James R. Bathurst * James J. Cawby * George Hartig * Mark G. Jager * Linn Leblanc * Michael J. Massie * Robert J. Puckett * Ted Robinson * Harold R. Ross * Marcus Shaw * Carl Weimer, Ph.D.

2009

* Carlos T. Mata * Brian Rishikof * Lester M. Cohen * Roger W. Corson

2010

* Dennis E. Botts * Jack Trombka * Benjamin M. Herman * Jeffrey P. Sutton

2011

* Gary Dempsey - COLSA * Charles Kopicz - ERC, Inc * Robert Savoie - GEOCENT

2012

Robert Berry Robert Berry is an American guitarist, bassist, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with Hush, 3 with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer, Ambrosia, Alliance, and Los Tres Gusanos. He was previously with The Greg Kihn Band, and a ...

* Raymond M. Hoff * Peter W. Phillips * Dmitry Kondratyev * James Sponnick,

United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance, LLC (ULA) is an American launch service provider formed in December 2006 as a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The company designs, assembles, sells and launches rockets ...

* Michael L. Young,

2013

The following individuals were recognized in 2013. Individuals marked with an ''*'' were awarded between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013, outside the timing of the normal awards cycle.

2014

The following individuals were recognized in 2014. Individuals marked with an ''*'' were awarded between April 1, 2013 and May 31, 2014, outside the timing of the normal awards cycle.

2015

* Davy A. Haynes, Jacobs Technologies ESSSA Group, Engineering Directorate

2016

* Thomas A. Glavich *

Stamatios Krimigis Stamatios (Tom) Mike Krimizis (; born September 10, 1938) is a Greek-American scientist in space exploration. He has contributed to many of the United States' unmanned space exploration programs of the Solar System and beyond. He has contributed ...

* Stephen E. Kulczycki * Therrin H. Protze *

Alan Stern Sol Alan Stern (born November 22, 1957) is an American engineer, planetary scientist and space tourist. He is the principal investigator of the ''New Horizons'' mission to Pluto and the Chief Scientist at Moon Express. Stern has been involved ...

2017

The following individuals were recognized June 15, 2017.

2018

The following individuals were recognized August 2, 2018.

2019

The following individuals were recognized August 28, 2019.

2020

The following individuals were recognized December 22, 2020.

References

External links

NASA Medals directory

(1969–1978)
Agency Awards Historical Recipient List
{{NASA decorations Awards and decorations of NASA Distinguished service awards