NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal

Not to be confused with NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.

The NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal is an award of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration established in 1991. The medal is awarded to both civilian members of NASA and military astronauts.

NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal
Type	Medal
Awarded for	"a significant, specific accomplishment or substantial improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which contributes to the mission of NASA."
Country	United States
Presented by	the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Eligibility	Government employees only
Status	Active
Established	1991
NASA Exceptional Achievement Ribbon
Precedence
Next (higher)	Outstanding Leadership Medal
Equivalent	Outstanding Service Medal (obsolete) Exceptional Service Medal
Next (lower)	Exceptional Achievement Medal Exceptional Service Medal Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal Exceptional Technology Achievement Medal Exceptional Administrative Achievement Medal Equal Employment Opportunity Medal

To be awarded the medal, a NASA employee must make substantial contributions characterized by a substantial and significant improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which directly contribute to the mission of NASA. For civilians, the decoration is typically bestowed to mid-level and senior NASA administrators who have supervised at least four to five successful NASA missions. Astronauts may be awarded the decoration after two to three space flights.

Due to its prestige, the medal is authorized as a military decoration for display on active duty military uniforms upon application from the service member to the various branch of the military in which they serve.

Notable recipients

• Chris Adami, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, physicist
• Richard Arenstorf, Vanderbilt University, mathematician
• Gordon Cooper, astronaut
• Lana Couch (1992), NASA engineer and executive^[1]
• Carl Sagan, astronomer
• Alan Shepard, astronaut
• John Young, astronaut
• Charles L. Bennett, observational astrophysicist
• Nancy Roman, astronomer, NASA executive
• Stephen P. Maran, astronomer
• Holly Ladner, Financial Specialist, NASA Shared Services Center

Selected recipients by year

There are usually more than 100 recipients of this medal annually. For example, there were 177 recipients in 2010.

• Prem Chand Pandey, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1985 (NASA Certificate of Recognition and Cash Award)
• Gary Flandro, University of Tennessee, UTSI, 1998
• Miguel San Martín, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1998
• John R. Casani, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1999, 2000
• Mark P. Stucky, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Eclipse Project Technical Lead & Project Pilot, 1999
• Joan Feynman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2002
• Adam Steltzner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2004
• Carlos Ortiz Longo, Johnson Space Center, 2005
• Mian Chin, Goddard Space Flight Center, physical scientist, 2005
• Ashok Srivastava, Ames Research Center, Data Mining and Machine Learning, 2007
• Angelita Castro-Kelly, Mission Operations Manager, 2007^[2]

2010 Honorees:^[3]

• Michael H. Hecht, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Research Scientist

2013 Honorees:^[4]

• Kobie Boykins, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Senior Mechanical Engineer
• David Y. Oh, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Science Laboratory Cross-Cutting Domain Lead

2019 Honorees:

• Rita M. Sambruna, NASA Headquarters^[5]

2024-2025 Honorees:

• Sarah Frazier, Goddard Space Flight Center
• Courtney A. Lee, Goddard Space Flight Center
• Katy Mersmann, Goddard Space Flight Center
• Michelle Thaller, Goddard Space Flight Center

See also

• List of NASA awards