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The Victor A. Prather Award is an award established by the American Astronautical Society "to promote understanding of high altitude environment on humans." It is awarded to "researchers, engineers and flight crew members in the field of extravehicular protection or activity in space."
The award is in honor of Victor A. Prather, a Naval flight surgeon.
Source: American Astronautical Society
2013 - Award terminated
Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut outside a spacecraft beyond the Earth's appreciable atmosphere. Normally, the term applies to what has been termed a spacewalk outside a craft that is orbiting Earth. However EVA also applies to lunar surface exploration, as performed by six pairs of American astronauts in the Apollo program from 1969 to 1972. A Stand-up EVA (SEVA) is when an astronaut does not fully leave a spacecraft, but is completely reliant on the spacesuit for environmental support. Its name derives from the astronaut "standing up" in the open hatch, usually to record or assist a spacewalking astronaut. The Soviet Union/Russia, the United States, Canada, the European Space Agency and China have all conducted EVAs.
STS-41-B was the tenth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the fourth flight of the Space ShuttleChallenger. It launched on 3 February 1984, and landed on 11 February 1984 after deploying two communications satellites. It was also notable for including the first untethered spacewalk.
Jerry Lynn Ross is a retired United States Air Force officer, engineer and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, making him the joint record holder for most spaceflights. His papers, photographs and many personal items are in the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives at Purdue University. He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame during ceremonies in May 2014.
Bruce McCandless II was a United States Navy officer and aviator, electrical engineer, and NASA astronaut. In 1984, during the first of his two Space Shuttle missions, he completed the first untethered spacewalk by using the Manned Maneuvering Unit.
Vance DeVoe Brand is an American naval officer, aviator, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. He served as command module pilot during the first U.S.-Soviet joint spaceflight in 1975, and as commander of three Space Shuttle missions.
STS-61 was the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission launched on 2 December 1993 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission restored the spaceborne observatory's vision with the installation of a new main camera and a corrective optics package. This correction occurred more than three and a half years after the Hubble was launched aboard STS-31 in April 1990. The flight also brought instrument upgrades and new solar arrays to the telescope.
Robert Lee Stewart is a retired brigadier general of the United States Army and a former NASA astronaut.
Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton is an American scientist and a former NASA astronaut with over 975 hours in space, including 21 hours of extravehicular activity. She was the associate dean for graduate programs at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, currently a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Pierre Joseph Thuot is a retired United States Navy captain and NASA astronaut. He went into space three times, spending over 650 hours in space, including over 15 hours in three space walks. He is a former U.S. record holder for time spent on one spacewalk, and participated in the first three-person spacewalk.
The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) is an independent anthropomorphic spacesuit that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for astronauts performing extravehicular activity (EVA) in Earth orbit. Introduced in 1981, it is a two-piece semi-rigid suit, and is currently one of two types of EVA spacesuits used by crew members on the International Space Station (ISS), the other being the Russian Orlan space suit. It was used by NASA's Space Shuttle astronauts prior to the end of the Shuttle program in 2011.
William Frederick Fisher is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. Fisher went into space in 1985 on board the Space Shuttle. He retired from NASA in 1992 and returned to the full-time practice of medicine. His time at NASA coincided with that of his former wife and fellow astronaut Anna Lee Fisher.
NASA Astronaut Group 5 was a group of nineteen astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966. Of the six Lunar Module Pilots that walked on the Moon, three came from Group 5. The group as a whole is roughly split between the half who flew to the Moon, and the half who flew Skylab and Space Shuttle, providing the core of Shuttle commanders early in that program. This group is also distinctive in being the only time when NASA hired a person into the astronaut corps who had already earned astronaut wings, X-15 pilot Joe Engle. John Young labeled the group the Original Nineteen in parody of the original Mercury Seven astronauts.
The National Air and Space Museum Trophy was established in 1985. The trophy presented to the winners is a miniature version of "The Web of Space," a sculpture by artist John Safer. The National Air and Space Museum presents this trophy annually to recognize both past and present achievements involving the management or execution of a scientific or technological project, a distinguished career of service in air and space technology, or a significant contribution in chronicling the history of air and space technology.
This article lists the birthplaces of astronauts from the United States' space program and other space travelers born in the United States or holding American citizenship. Space travelers who did not work for NASA are indicated in italics.
NASA Astronaut Group 10 was a group of 17 astronauts that were announced on May 23, 1984 and consisted of seven pilots and ten mission specialists. Although selected in 1984, no member of the group would fly until 1988 due to the Challenger disaster and the resulting grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet.