Stardust Receives Award for Excellence
11.15.2006

Ken Atkins, Tom Duxbury and Joe Vellinga accept the Aviation Week and Space Technology Award. (click on picture to enlarge)

NASA's Stardust Mission and Lockheed Martin's ATLAS Launch Vehicle were honored with the Aviation Week and Space Technology (AW&ST) Program Excellence Award on November 14, 2006. AW&ST reviewed over 300 federal programs before selecting the two finalists for the award.

Aviation Week and Space Technology invited industry partners to participate in a one-day workshop in Scottsdale, Arizona, which focused on specific best practices from program leaders in managing technological complexity, managing and mitigating risk, and developing organizational capability and controls. From a free-market approach to technology resource allocation to renewing people skills as a program matures, these leaders are developing one-of-a-kind approaches that produce one-of-a-kind results and leadership.

Stardust Project Manager Tom Duxbury and former Project Manager Ken Atkins, both from JPL, along with Stardust's Program Manager from Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Joe Vellinga, accepted the award on behalf of the mission and NASA.