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Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal

  • NASA Distinguished Service MedalThe NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the top honor that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration can give, and one astronaut collected it three separate times. That is rare for a decoration meant to recognize contributions so…
  • Pete ConradPete Conrad's first words on the Moon were a joke he had bet $500 on.
  • Jim LovellJim Lovell flew to the Moon twice and never set foot on it. His second trip, Apollo 13, nearly ended in disaster.
  • Donn F. EiseleDonn Eisele was in a hospital on January 27, 1966, exactly a year before the Apollo 1 fire.
  • James McDivittOn Gemini 4, James McDivitt had to force a jammed hatch latch back into place with his fingers.
  • Ed White (astronaut)Ed White floated out of his capsule in 1965 and did not want to come back. He was the first American to walk in space.
  • Stuart RoosaStuart Roosa orbited the Moon 34 times alone while two crewmates walked on it. He also carried tree seeds in his pocket.
  • Walter CunninghamWalter Cunningham sat in the lunar module pilot seat on a spacecraft with no lunar module. It was Apollo 7.
  • Gene CernanGene Cernan wrote his daughter's initials in the lunar dust before leaving the Moon. He was the last person there.
  • Gus GrissomDoctors nearly cut Gus Grissom from astronaut selection because he had hay fever.
  • Fred HaiseFred Haise came within days of becoming the sixth person to walk on the Moon. Then Apollo 13's oxygen tank ruptured.
  • Buzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin's first words on the Moon were "Beautiful view." Years later he was selling used cars.
  • Alan ShepardAn inner ear disease grounded astronaut Alan Shepard for years before he walked on the Moon.
  • Jack SwigertJack Swigert won a seat in Congress but died seven days before he could take it. The Apollo 13 astronaut was 51.
  • Neil ArmstrongNeil Armstrong's astronaut application came about a week late, until a colleague slipped it into the pile.
  • John Young (astronaut)John Young walked on the Moon and later commanded the first Space Shuttle mission. He is the only person to do both.
  • Frank BormanA stranger's telegram told Apollo 8's Frank Borman, "You saved 1968." He commanded the first crew to orbit the Moon.
  • David ScottDavid Scott dropped a hammer and a feather on the Moon. The Apollo 15 commander did it on live television.
  • Wally SchirraAstronaut Wally Schirra refused Mission Control's request to wear helmets.
  • Alfred WordenIn 1971, Alfred Worden orbited the Moon alone, farther from any other person than anyone before.
  • Ken MattinglyKen Mattingly was pulled from Apollo 13 for measles he never got. He then helped from Mission Control to save the crew.
  • Michael Collins (astronaut)Michael Collins orbited the Moon thirty times and never set foot on it.
  • Alan BeanAlan Bean walked on the Moon, then quit NASA to paint it. He pressed Moon dust from his suit patches into canvases.
  • Deke SlaytonOne heart test grounded astronaut Deke Slayton in 1962. He then picked the crews who flew to the Moon.
  • Edgar MitchellApollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell had a spiritual awakening on his way home from the Moon.
  • Samuel C. PhillipsSamuel C. Phillips froze the Minuteman missile's design knowing its range was 1,000 miles short.
  • Harrison SchmittHarrison Schmitt was the only professional geologist to walk on the Moon. He flew on Apollo 17 in 1972.
  • James IrwinAfter walking on the Moon, astronaut James Irwin spent years searching for Noah's Ark.
  • Richard F. Gordon Jr.Richard Gordon orbited the Moon 45 times on Apollo 12 but never walked on it.
  • William AndersWilliam Anders fled Japanese bombers as a boy, then photographed Earth from the Moon.
  • Charles DukeCharles Duke walked on the Moon at 36, and no one younger has ever done it.
  • Ronald Evans (astronaut)Ronald Evans is the last person to orbit the Moon alone. He circled it 75 times while two crewmates walked below.
  • Rusty SchweickartAstronaut Rusty Schweickart took up meditation after a five-minute pause outside Apollo 9.
  • Wernher von BraunWernher von Braun's V-2 rocket cost more lives to build than it took as a weapon.
  • James E. WebbJames Webb left NASA on his 62nd birthday, days before Apollo's first crewed flight. He had run it since 1961.
  • Thomas P. StaffordApollo 10's lunar module spun out of control after Thomas Stafford flew it within nine miles of the Moon.

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