To be awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, a NASA member must contribute 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 the prestige of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, it 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.
The ExceptionalAchievementMedal is presented to Daniel G. Baize for exceptionalachievement in the development of the synthetic vision systems to improve aviation safety and enable new operating capabilities.
The ExceptionalAchievementMedal is presented to Joel L. Everhart for database generation and analysis of local cavity heating effect used in the development of the Shuttle Orbiter Local Cavity Heating Damage Assesment Tool.
The ExceptionalAchievementMedal is presented to Anna-Maria R. McGowan for exceptionalachievement in the development of the "aircraft morphing" technologies that enable aircraft to change its flight characteristics to adapt to diverse, multivariable flight operating conditions.
NASA's vision is "to improve life here, extend life to there, and to find life beyond." Its mission is "to understand and protect our home planet ; to explore the Universe and search for life ; and to inspire the next generation of explorers."
NASA's early programs were research into human spaceflight, and were conducted under the pressure of the competition between the USA and the USSR (the Space Race) that existed during the Cold War.
NASA had won the space race, and in some senses this left it without direction, or at the very least without the public attention and interest that was necessary to guarantee large budgets from Congress.
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