Biography - Aviation-Related Awards

Abbey to Receive Space Trophy

JSC Director George Abbey will receive the prestigious National Space Trophy on March 6 during a special banquet at Space Center Houston. Astronaut John Young also will be honored for his lifetime dedication to the space program. The National Space Trophy is given annually by the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation to one individual for outstanding leadership and personal commitment to space exploration. Nominations are submitted by leaders of the aerospace industry, government agencies, professional organizations and the media. A ballot of finalists is voted on by the Foundation's national board of advisers with confidential votes tabulated by an independent accounting firm. Nominating Abbey for this year's honor, Robert Minor, president of the Space Systems Division of Boeing North America, cited "his exceptional vision, his superior leadership qualities, his unique and effective problem solving techniques and his broad understanding of technical management. His dedication and capabilities are truly extraordinary and his major contributions to space exploration and the furtherance of the space program are legendary."

JSC Associate Director, Technical, John Young will be honored with the Corona Award. The Corona Award recognizes a distinguished lifetime of achievement in the exploration of space and is made only when the Foundation board members feel that exceptional merit demands the special conferment. The Corona Award has been given once before in 1992 to Robert Gilruth. Young's exceptional accomplishments in his career as a Navy pilot and as a NASA astronaut and senior management official have earned him more than 80 other major awards and four honorary doctorate degrees, making him an ideal candidate for the Corona. Young was the first person to fly in space six times, and he is the only one to fly that many times in three different space vehicles—two times each in Gemini, Apollo and the space shuttle. Young is one of only a dozen astronauts to walk on the moon and he commanded STS-1, the first flight of the space shuttle program.

The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation also will honor several scientists, engineers and managers with Stellar Awards at a 7 p.m. March 6 banquet at Space Center Houston.