Stellar Awards Evaluation Panel
The Stellar Awards Evaluation Panel is responsible for reviewing all submitted Stellar Award citations and selecting the winners. Stellar Award winners are selected based on which accomplishments hold the greatest promise for furthering future activities in space, the extent to which the nominee played a key role in the accomplishment, and the extent to which the nominee meets the goal of recognizing "unsung heroes." In addition, nominees in the early career category are evaluated based on the extent to which the nominee's past accomplishments demonstrates the potential for future contributions. The RNASA Foundation greatly appreciates the dedication and service of the distinguished individuals who have served on the Stellar Evaluation Panels.
2008-2011 Panel Members
Christopher C. Kraft Jr.
Christopher C. Kraft, a driving force in the U.S. human spaceflight program from its beginning to the Space Shuttle era, has served as Stellar Award evaluator since 1997.
Born in Phoebus, Virginia, Dr. Kraft graduated from Virginia Polytechnic in 1944. He joined NASA's predecessor at Langley Field in Virginia the next year and spent fourteen years testing aircraft. When NASA formed in '58, Dr. Kraft was one of the 36 original members of the Space Task Group developing Project Mercury. He created the engineering and operations organization that designed and controlled the first human missions. Dr. Kraft was the first flight director, and held that position for all of Mercury, and the first seven flights of Gemini. He was director of Flight Operations through Apollo 12, and then became deputy director of what is now Johnson Space Center. He became director in '71, playing a vital role in the success of the final Apollo missions and the first Space Shuttle flights.
He retired in 1982 and served as a consultant and board member of various Houston companies, as director-at-large of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the Board of Visitors at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His book, FLIGHT: My Life In Mission Control, was published in 2001 and was a New York Times bestseller. He was the recipient of the 1999 National Space Trophy.
Glynn S. Lunney
Former Apollo flight director and Shuttle manager Glynn S. Lunney has served as a Stellar Award evaluator since 2003. Born in Old Forge, Pennsylvania, Lunney graduated from the University of Detroit in 1958. He worked at the Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio and transferred to Langley in Virginia in 1958. Lunney joined the Space Task Group in 1959 and moved to Houston in 1962. He was a flight director for Gemini and Apollo and head of the Flight Director's Office starting in 1968. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Scranton in 1971. In 1972, Lunney became manager of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, and he also managed the Apollo Spacecraft Office starting in 1973. From 1975-81, he served at NASA Headquarters, twice as deputy associate administrator (AA) for Space Flight, and then as acting AA for Space Transportation Operations. In 1981, Lunney was selected manager of the Shuttle program and returned to Houston.
Lunney left NASA in 1985 and became president of Rockwell's Satellite Systems Division. After a tour at Rockwell Space Systems Division, he returned to Houston in 1989 to lead Rockwell's Space Operations Co. that became part of United Space Alliance (USA) in 1995. Lunney was VP and program manager of USA's Space Flight Operations contract until his retirement in 1999. He was honored with the National Space Trophy in 2005.
Arnold D. Aldrich
Arnold D. Aldrich joined the Stellar Award Evaluation Committee in 2008. A member of the original Space Task Group, he began his 35-year NASA career in 1959 at Langley Field, VA.
Aldrich held a number of key flight operations and operations management positions during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. He served as Skylab deputy program manager; Apollo Spacecraft Program Office deputy manager during the Apollo Soyuz Test Project; Orbiter Project manager, where he oversaw the development of Discovery and Atlantis; and Space Shuttle Program manager. Following the Challenger accident, Aldrich was appointed director of the National Space Transportation System (Space Shuttle Program) at NASA Headquarters where he led Space Shuttle program recovery. He then served as Associate Administrator (AA) for Aeronautics Exploration and Technology and, later, AA for Space Systems Development.
Aldrich left NASA in 1994 and joined Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, CA as vice president, Commercial Space Business Development and then vice president, Strategic Technology Planning. With the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta, he became director of Program Operations at Lockheed Martin headquarters in Bethesda, MD. Aldrich retired from Lockheed Martin in 2007 and is now an aerospace consultant. Aldrich has received many honors including the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive and the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
2003-2007 Panel
2002 Panel
John O'Neill
2001 Panel
Bill Muhlberger
1998-2000 Panel
Al Diaz
Bill Muhlberger
1997 Panel
George Bekey
Bill Muhlberger