WASHINGTON — NASA will honor the late astronaut John “Jack” L. Swigert, Jr., with the presentation of an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his involvement in the U.S. space program. During a ceremony with Apollo 13 spacecraft commander James Lovell on Friday, May 23, Swigert’s sister Virginia will accept the award at and present it for display to the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum in Denver, Colo. The award presentation will highlight the opening of the museum’s new exhibit on Colorado’s Astronauts.
NASA is giving the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the first generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs for realizing America’s goal of going to the moon. The award is a moon rock encased in Lucite and mounted for public display. The rock is part of the 842 pounds of lunar samples collected during the six Apollo expeditions from 1969 to 1972.
Swigert was born in Denver and received a received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1953. Swigert was the command module pilot for the Apollo 13 mission. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November 1982, but died the following month before taking office. For biographical information about Swigert, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/swigert-jl.html
For information and pictures of the NASA Ambassador of Exploration Award, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/AofEphotos.html
For more information about the Wings Over the Rockies Museum, visit:
