“The Chroniclers,” a program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, recognizing those who helped spread news of American space exploration, will soon have six new names on its wall of fame.
Five of the 2017 “Chroniclers” are retired, and one is deceased. They represent TV and print journalism, as well as NASA’s public affairs office.
A selection committee chose the six on March 22 from among broadcasters, journalists, authors, contractor public relations representatives and NASA public affairs officers who, while still working, excelled at sharing news from Kennedy with the world.
This year’s honorees are, in alphabetical order:
Bruce Hall, a veteran CBS News and NBC News correspondent and producer who covered space for more than 20 years, starting with the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975 and continuing through the early years of the shuttle program, the Challenger accident and NASA’s recovery, and the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Scott Harris, Orlando TV reporter and anchor for more than 40 years, and widely regarded for his live coverage of space shuttle launches from Kennedy. Harris worked both the first shuttle launch in April 1981 and the liftoff of the final shuttle mission in July 2011, one month before his passing at age 64.
Bill Johnson, NASA Public Affairs professional whose career at Kennedy spanned more than 45 years. Longtime chief of Media Services, responsible for dissemination of NASA news from and operation of the Kennedy Space Center newsroom and Press Site, Johnson was an awardee of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.
Warren Leary, science writer and correspondent for the Associated Press and The New York Times for more than 35 years. An award-winning journalist, Leary covered spaceflight, technology, engineering, aeronautics, and medical science, as well as the investigation into the cause of the 2003 Columbia accident.
Robert B. (Bob) Murray, NASA’s first videographer to provide live, airborne TV coverage of space shuttle launches and landings. For more than 23 years, Murray’s primary aerial imagery was seen on television networks and stations, as well as in publications worldwide.
Phil Sandlin, a photographer for UPI and then AP, covered the U.S. space program beginning with the Apollo moon shots and continuing with the shuttle program until his retirement in 2011. Sandlin was winner of the National Press Photographers Association’s prestigious Joseph Costa Award in 2016.
The six honorees, each of whom covered the U.S. space program at Kennedy for ten years or more and are no longer working full time in the media, were selected by a committee of working broadcasters, journalists, public relations professionals, and present and former representatives of NASA Kennedy’s Office of Communication. The committee considered a total of 20 nominees for this year’s awards.
Past honorees include Walter Cronkite of CBS News, Jules Bergman of ABC News and two-time Pulitzer winner John Noble Wilford of The New York Times.
Brass strips engraved with each awardee’s name will be added to “The Chroniclers” wall in the Kennedy Space Center newsroom at the Press Site during a ceremony at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 5, 2017, the 56th anniversary of Alan Shepard’s historic flight as America’s first human in space. Coincidentally, it was Shepard from whom the first Chronicler honorees received their award certificates in 1995.
