NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy presented the award to Cabana on January 10 during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Cabana most recently served as NASA’s associate administrator, the agency’s top civil servant, up for re-election in 2021. from the agency at the end of 2023.
“A true public servant, Bob has spent his entire career serving his country. I can think of no one more deserving of this rare honor than Bob,” Nelson said. From his role as NASA Associate Administrator, Bob has dedicated his life to improving his country. I thank Bob for his dedication and commitment to President Biden.
The award recognized Cabana as a Marine aviator, test pilot, astronaut and the first American to enter the International Space Station. He was credited with launching the James Webb Space Telescope, the Artemis I mission and the Orion spacecraft that would return humans to the Moon for the first time in decades.
As a NASA astronaut, Cabana flew in space four times, including twice as commander. Its last space shuttle flight in 1998 was the first International Space Station assembly mission. Cabana also served as director of the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for more than a decade. There he led the transition of the Space Shuttle from retirement to a multi-user space station that once again launched NASA astronauts into low Earth orbit, and for the first time with commercial partners.
As NASA’s associate administrator, Cabana led the agency’s 10 center directors as well as the associate administrators of the Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. He was the agency’s chief operating officer for more than 18,000 employees and oversaw an annual budget of more than $25 billion.
Cabana was selected as an astronaut candidate in June 1985 and completed training in July 1986. He logged 38 days in space during four shuttle missions. Cabana was a pilot aboard the space shuttle Discovery on both the STS-41 mission in October 1990 that deployed the Ulysses spacecraft and the STS-53 mission in December 1992. He was mission commander aboard Space Shuttle Columbia for the STS-65 mission in July. 1994 who conducted experiments as part of the second International Microgravity Laboratory. Mission He commanded the Space Shuttle Endeavor in December 1998 for the STS-88 mission.
Cabana was appointed a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service in 2000 and served in a number of senior management positions at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, eventually becoming deputy director. He was named director of NASA’s Stence Space Center in Mississippi in October 2007 and was selected as NASA Kennedy Director a year later.
Born in Minneapolis, Cabana graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He became a naval aviator and graduated with distinction from the US Naval Test Pilot School in 1981. In his career, Cabana logged more than 7,000 hours in more than 50 different types of aircraft. He retired from the US Marine Corps as a colonel in September 2000.
In addition to receiving the President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Service, Cabana’s accomplishments include induction into the Astronaut Hall of Fame and being named an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. . He has received numerous personal honors and decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Presidential Distinguished Rank Award. He is also a recipient of the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement’s National Space Trophy.
For Cabana’s full bio, visit:
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