CLEVELAND — Astronauts Kevin Ford, Jose Hernandez and Sunita Williams recently presented Silver Snoopy awards at NASA’s Glenn Research Center to 17 Glenn employees and 5 support service contractors.
The Silver Snoopy award reflects the astronauts’ personal recognition of workers who have made outstanding contributions to the safety and success of human spaceflight. Less than 1 percent of workers in the space program receive the award annually.
Ford and Hernandez were crew members of space shuttle Discovery mission STS-128 that flew to the International Space Station in August 2009. Williams served as a flight engineer aboard station during Expeditions 14 and 15, from December 2006 until returning to Earth in June 2007.
The following recipients were presented a sterling silver Snoopy lapel pin and a certificate of appreciation and a commendation letter, both signed by the astronauts who presented the awards:
Randy S. Clapper, a resident of Elyria, received the award for his personal dedication combined with his technical expertise and leadership abilities which positively impacted the Ares I-X assembly schedule.
Dr. Christopher DellaCorte resides in Sharon Center. He received the award for his lead role in deciphering the failure that caused severe degradation of the International Space Station’s starboard solar array alpha rotary joint and the return to normal operations of the joint.
John Easton, a resident of Olmsted Falls and an employee of Universities Space Research Association was recognized for his work on International Space Station flight experiments that helped evaluate the reparability of electronic systems on long-duration missions, leading to increased safety and reliability of future crews and missions.
Michael J. Garrett, a Cleveland Heights resident, is an employee of Analex Corporation. He was recognized for his excellent technical leadership in his role of avionics package lead, which ensured safe and reliable operations aboard the International Space Station.
Carrie L. Green resides in Hinckley and is an employee of the ARES Corporation. Her efforts brought insight into the system safety issues for the ground and flight crews during the important design phase of the Orion Service Module’s propulsion system.
Nancy Rabel Hall is a resident of North Ridgeville. As project scientist and project manager for the Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment, she ushered the space flight hardware through several developmental challenges with the modules, monitored the operations of the experiment, and reviewed both experimental and operational data.
Michael C. Hicks is an Olmsted Falls resident. He was recognized for work on the Flame Extinguishment Experiment, which was the first payload to operate in the Combustion Integrated Rack on the International Space Station. He was also commended for his work in waste stabilization and reutilization on super critical water oxidation, which recently culminated in its establishment as an international flight project on the space station, utilizing the European Space Agency’s high-pressure research facility.
Trevor Jones, a resident of Lakewood, Jeffrey M. Larko of Medina, and Mark E. McNelis of Strongsville were commended for their significant contributions in the investigation of the space shuttle mission STS-126 flight anomaly associated with the gaseous hydrogen flow control valve failure, which led to the successful launch of STS-119.
Dr. Hani Kamhawi is a plasma physics and hollow cathode expert at Glenn. He was commended for his support of the operation of the Plasma Contactor Units, which prevent the hazard of electric shock to astronauts during spacewalks.
Kevin S. Magee resides in the West Park area of Cleveland and is a ZIN Technologies, Inc. employee. Magee’s professionalism and dedication resulted in achieving the successful development, delivery and operations of the Shear History Extensional Rheology Experiment hardware.
David S. Morgan, an Akron resident and quality assurance specialist, received the award for his involvement and insight in the development of test plans, procedures and checklists to ensure tests were done consistently and in an orderly fashion.
David E. Myers resides in North Ridgeville and was commended for his critical contribution to Glenn’s successful development and on-time hardware deliveries of the Ares I-X Upper Stage Simulator.
Gail P. Perusek, a resident of Lakewood, was recognized for her exceptional leadership in successfully managing the development of a treadmill harness for use by astronauts while exercising on the International Space Station.
Carol Quinn, a Columbia Station resident, was awarded for organizing and leading two Glenn peer review teams whose efforts were crucial to the safe and effective operations of the Space Shuttle Program.
Gary A. Ruff resides in Medina. He was awarded for his personal dedication and leadership that led to substantial improvement in the understanding of and ability to prevent spacecraft fires.
George J. Saad, a resident of Atwater, received the award for the weld and outer mold line inspection process and documentation that he personally developed, resulting in acceptance of a new, efficient method for launch vehicle segment manufacturing.
Christopher C. Sheehan, a Lakewood resident and Zin Technologies, Inc. employee, was commended for his exceptional leadership as the contractor project manager for the development of a treadmill harness for use by astronauts while exercising on the International Space Station.
Paul A. Steve resides in Granger Township. He was awarded for being instrumental in developing critical assembly and verification processes that increased safety and reliability of the Ares I-X test flight.
Dr. Peter Struk, a resident of Olmsted Township, received the award for the substantial improvements he made in NASA’s ability to support future exploration missions through his innovative research in the physics and human factors of electrical systems repair in reduced gravity.
Angela D. Windau, a native of Fostoria, was awarded for the critical safety support she provided to the manufacturing, transportation and assembly of the Ares I-X Upper Stage Simulator, a key hardware element for NASA’s Constellation Program.
Photographs are available upon request.
For more information on Human Space Flight, visit: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/home
For more information about Glenn Research Center, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/glenn
