17
June
2022
|
09:48 AM
America/New_York

USRA's Gordon Berger Receives NASA's Silver Snoopy Award for Space Flight Safety

Columbia, MD—June 17, 2022. USRA’s Gordon Berger, at Glenn Research Center, was selected to receive a Space Flight Awareness Silver Snoopy Award from NASA.

Silver Snoopy Award logo

The Silver Snoopy award is a special honor awarded to NASA employees and contractors for outstanding achievements related to human flight safety and mission success. The Silver Snoopy award is one of several awards overseen by the Space Flight Awareness (SFA) program at NASA.

The award is given "In appreciation for professionalism, dedication and outstanding support that greatly enhanced space flight safety and mission success."  Dr. Carol Kory, USRA Director, Low Gravity Sciences, noted, “Gordon’s regular contributions beyond normal work requirements to ensure spaceflight safety are  impressive. We are thrilled that he is being recognized for this well-deserved honor.”

Gordon  will be honored at a ceremony on July 14, 2022 at Glenn Research Center where Astronaut Shannon Walker will be presenting the award to him.  The award consists of a sterling silver "Silver Snoopy" lapel pin flown during a NASA mission, a commendation letter (stating the mission the Silver Snoopy pin was flown on) and a signed, framed Silver Snoopy certificate.

Employees of NASA or one of its contractors can be considered for a Silver Snoopy award if they have satisfied one or more of the following criteria:

  • Significantly contributed beyond their normal work requirements to the development and implementation of human spaceflight programs while ensuring quality and safety.
  • Accomplished single specific achievements that have had significant impact on attainment of a particular human spaceflight program goal while ensuring quality and safety.
  • Contributed to a major cost saving or a series of lesser cost savings pertaining directly to human spaceflight programs.
  • Been instrumental in developing modifications to human spaceflight mission hardware, software, or materials that increase reliability, efficiency, or performance.
  • Assisted in operational improvements that increase efficiency or performance.
  • Been a key player in developing a beneficial process improvement of significant magnitude.
  • Contributed significantly beyond fundamental task accountabilities in support of the NASA programs.
  • Sustained quality performance over an extended period of time in support of human spaceflight programs.

Silver Snoopy awards are limited to no more than 1% of eligible recipients. An individual can only receive one Silver Snoopy Award in their lifetime.  

Charles Schulz, who was an avid supporter of the U.S. Space program, together with the United Feature Syndicate agreed to let NASA use “Snoopy the Astronaut” image at no cost.

USRA congratulates Gordon Berger on receiving this award.

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About USRA

Founded in 1969, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences at the request of the U.S. Government, the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) is a nonprofit corporation chartered to advance space-related science, technology, and engineering.  USRA operates scientific institutes and facilities, and conducts other major research and educational programs. USRA engages the university community and employs in-house scientific leadership, innovative research and development, and project management expertise. More information about USRA is available at www.usra.edu.