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[b]Rotary Space Foundation Recognizes General Kevin Chilton, 25 Individuals, and Seven Teams with Awards[/b] The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation celebrated its silver anniversary on May 6, 2011 by presenting the National Space Trophy (NST) to former Commander of U.S. Strategic Command and former Astronaut General Kevin P. Chilton, USAF (Ret.), and recognizing 25 individuals and seven teams with Stellar Awards. With music by pianist Victoria Reva, the gala at the Houston Hyatt Regency was attended by about a thousand members of the aerospace community from around the nation, including seven of the previous NST winners. Also attending were Congressman Pete Olson and Houston City Councilman for District E, Mike Sullivan. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett welcomed guests to the event, saying, "As a boy who dreamed about space growing up, I really came not to welcome you, but to say thank you." Houston high school students again participated in the event with the Clear Creek High School JROTC Color Guard (Cadet Col.Cadet Maj. Lucus Duncavage, Cadet CPT Daniel Clemen, Cadet LTC Michael Truitt, and Juan Castillo) presenting the colors, and the national anthem being performed by Clear Springs junior, Bianca Higgins, the winner of the Clear Creek School District's "So You Think You Can Sing" contest. Father Vincent Nguyen, Pastor of St. Claire of Assisi Catholic Church of Clear Lake provided the invocation. After a spectacular dinner, Space City Films dazzled the audience with a multi-media show displaying the highlights of space achievement during the previous year. Veteran reporter and emcee Miles O'Brien kicked off the awards portion of the program on a light note with a plan for obtaining a space shuttle orbiter for Houston: have the next crew land it at Ellington near Clear Lake. "Then do what Texans do, claim it as yours and secede from the Union." O'Brien quipped, "How hard can this be?" But, he added more seriously, "I know there's a lot of bruised feelings about what museums the used shuttles go into. But when I think of Houston, I don't think about museums. I don't think about relics. I don't think about docents. I think about doers. To the extent that we bog ourselves down in a debate about where the relics go, I think we take our eye off the ball. The people in this room are all about smoke and fire and speed and exploration. Let's stay focused on that. The final frontier is our goal." O'Brien delighted the audience with a video spoof he produced about General Chilton's role in the all-astronaut band, Max Q, during his time with NASA from 1987 through 1998. Other former band members including Chris Hadfield and Maj. Gen. Susan Helms appeared in the show. NASA Astronauts Stephanie D. Wilson and Richard R. Arnold II then took to the podium to present the 2011 RNASA Stellar Awards to two USAF officers, three NASA employees, and 20 individual corporate winners, plus two NASA and five corporate teams. (See end of release for names and citations.) Astronaut Steven W. Lindsey who commanded the final flight of Space Shuttle Discovery in February, then presented the National Space Trophy to Chilton. He reviewed Chilton's biography, including that he Chilton joined NASA in 1987, flew on STS-49 in 1992, STS-59 in 1994, and STS-76 in 1996. He left NASA in 1998 to rejoin the Air Force. He retired from the Air Force this spring. [b]Above[/b]: [i]Gen. Chilton accepts the National Space Trophy from Col. Steve Lindsey at the RNASA event, May 6, 2011 in Houston. [URL=http://www.rnasa.org/photos.html]More photos[/URL].[/i] Lindsey cited Chilton's "accomplishments and exploits as a fighter pilot, experimental test pilot, astronaut, and superb leader of civilian and military space. He's had a huge impact on our collective professions." Yet, Lindsey said he thinks of him, "as the general who always took time to listen, to mentor, and the guy you knew genuinely cared about you. He's always been approachable. He's always treated everyone with equal respect and care, no matter their position. He's also been able to maintain a successful balance between his four stars and his four daughters." One of Chilton's daughters attended the banquet. "This is kind of overwhelming for me," Chilton told the crowd. "To be nominated by your peers is a very special thing." He congratulated the Stellar Award winners, saying, "Most Americans don't appreciate the phenomenal work that's still going on every day." He praised the team of people at Johnson Space Center. "In the 11 years I was with NASA, I felt like I got a PhD in human space flight." He described how the skills and knowledge he gained at NASA served him well when he returned to the Air Force. His astronaut training allowed him to tell the difference between a ballistic missile and a shuttle-like trajectory in data from the North Koreans. His time as deputy program manager for the International Space Station prepared him well for dealing with Pentagon budget issues and negotiating agreements for operations in other countries. "If I was successful at all when I returned to the Air Force, it was because of the 11 years I spent at NASA and learning this business that is so important to us." Chilton included "the fulfillment of dreams, exploring, answering unanswerable questions, pushing the bar a little further up, trying to get over it," as reasons for "why we get out of bed and come to work in the morning." But he said his own motivation is also more personal, and deeply patriotic. "Someday, in the future, another human being will stand on the Moon. And they'll plant a flag. To me, it matters whether that flag is an American flag or not. Because in the future, when someone does that, the rest of the world is going to look at that country, and say, 'I want to be like those guys.' The human space flight program is not only an inspiration to our youth: it's an inspiration to the entire world. And being a leader in that program is important for the United States of America, and my family." The evening concluded with Gemini and Apollo veteran Lt. Gen. Thomas Stafford, USAF (Ret.) presenting an OMEGA watch to Chilton. Stafford, who is a three-star general, noted that Chilton is the first astronaut to become a four-star general. "You broke the record." He praised his work for the military, saying, "Our nuclear capability had some issues that had degraded which we can't talk about here tonight. The Secretary of Defense and Congress charged General Chilton with reconstituting our nuclear forces: the Air Force has two thirds of the bombers and ICBMs." Stafford also said that Chilton had been assigned to establish Cyber Command. "What an outstanding job you did for the Air Force and for the country, Chili. We're so proud of you." RNASA President Rodolfo Gonzalez ended the evening by thanking the corporate sponsors: The Aerospace Corporation, Alliant Techsystems, Inc. (ATK), ARES Corporation, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Barrios Technology, Bastion Technologies, Inc., The Boeing Corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton, Draper Laboratory, Fisher Space Pen, GeoControl Systems, Inc., GHG Corporation, Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Jacobs, L-3 STRATIS, Lockheed Martin, ManTech International, MEI Technologies, Inc., Oceaneering Space Systems, Omega Watch, Orbital Sciences Corp., Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, SAIC, SpaceX, Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies (SGT), TechTrans International, Inc., UHCL School of Business, United Space Alliance, and Wyle Integrated Science & Engineering. Proceeds remaining after each year's event are donated to an organization involved in aerospace education. About the [URL=http://www.rnasa.org/]RNASA Foundation[/URL]: Founded by the Space Center Rotary Club in 1985 to organize and coordinate an annual event to recognize outstanding achievements in space and create greater public awareness of the benefits of space exploration, the RNASA Foundation has presented the National Space Trophy to an outstanding American who has made major contributions to our nation's space program since 1987. This year marked the Foundation's 25th anniversary.
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