The NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal is an award of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration established in 1991. The medal is awarded to both civilian members of NASA and military astronauts. To be awarded the medal, a NASA employee must make substantial contributions characterized by a substantial and significant improvement in operations, efficiency, service, financial savings, science, or technology which directly contribute to the mission of NASA. For civilians, the decoration is typically bestowed to mid-level and senior NASA administrators who have supervised at least four to five successful NASA missions. Astronauts may be awarded the decoration after two to three space flights. Due to its prestige, the medal is authorized as a military decoration for display on active duty military uniforms upon application from the service member to the various branch of the military in which they serve. Notable recipients Chris Adami, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, physicist Richard Arenstorf, Vanderbilt University, mathematician Gordon Cooper, astronaut Carl Sagan, astronomer Alan Shepard, astronaut John Young, astronaut Charles L. Bennett, observational astrophysicist Nancy Roman, astronomer, NASA executive Stephen P. Maran, astronomer Kimberly Robinson, CEO USSRC Selected recipients by year There are usually more than 100 recipients of this medal annually. For example, there were 177 recipients in 2010. Prem Chand Pandey, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1985 (NASA Certificate of Recognition and Cash Award) David Rochblatt, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Engineer, 1995 (NASA Exceptional Service Medal, 2012) Jon T. Adams, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Scatterometer Radio Frequency Subsystem, 1997 Gary Flandro, University of Tennessee, UTSI, 1998 Miguel San Martín, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1998 John R. Casani, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1999, 2000 Mark P. Stucky, Armstrong Flight Research Center, Eclipse Project Technical Lead & Project Pilot, 1999 Joan Feynman, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2002 Stephen G. Ungar, Goddard Space Flight Center, Earth Observing-1 Mission Scientist, 2002 Kevin Delin, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Sensor Web Inventor, 2004 Adam Steltzner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2004 Keith Presson, Marshall Space Flight Center MPLM Project Office, 2005 Carlos Ortiz Longo, Johnson Space Center, 2005 Robert Sherwood, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Autonomous Sciencecraft Project Manager, 2005 Mian Chin, Goddard Space Flight Center, physical scientist, 2005 Rodney N. Phillips, Marshall Space Flight Center, Structural Dynamics Test Engineer, 2006 Michael Dalton, Kennedy Space Center, Computer Systems Engineer, 2007 Ashok Srivastava, Ames Research Center, Data Mining and Machine Learning, 2007 Quang-Viet Nguyen, Glenn Research Center, Research Aerospace Engineer, 2007 Angelita Castro-Kelly, Mission Operations Manager, 2007 Michael A. Gross, Jet