The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...

. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronaut, pilot, mission specialist, payload specialist, or other space flight participant in a space flight mission." In practice, the medal is bestowed upon any

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

(US or foreign) who flies aboard a United States space mission, and typically every subsequent flight is honored with an additional award. Multiple awards of the decoration are annotated either by

award stars A inch star (9.7mm) is a miniature gold or silver five-pointed star that is authorized by the United States Armed Forces as a ribbon device to denote subsequent awards for specific decorations of the Department of the Navy, Coast Guard, Public H ...

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a spec ...

s (depending on the civilian or military status of the recipient and, if military, the

branch of service Military branch (also service branch or armed service) is according to common standard a subdivision of the national Military, armed forces of a sovereign nation or state. Types of branches Unified armed forces The Canadian Armed Forces is ...

). The NASA Space Flight Medal is also authorized for wear on active uniforms of the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

and is worn after all military decorations. For those who perform an act of gallantry or heroic action while engaged in a U.S. space mission, NASA also presents an award known as the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. This is separate award from the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

which is a U.S. military decoration for extreme bravery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasa Space Flight Medal Space Flight Medal

See also

References