Members of the Magellan and Galileo mission teams received the 1991 National Space Club's Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award for outstanding contributions to planetary exploration at the annual Goddard Memorial Dinner, held March 15 in Washington, D.C. Accepting the award on behalf of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Magellan mission to map Venus was Project Manager Anthony J. Spear. William J. O'Neil, Galileo project manager, accepted on behalf of the Galileo mission to explore Jupiter. Dr. Edward C. Stone, director of the Laboratory, was also in attendance.
Recipients of the Jackson Award are selected annually by the National Space Club, an organization of approximately 1,700 members, for their contributions to the missile, aircraft and astronautics industries. The award is a memorial to the late Nelson P. "Pete" Jackson, one of the founders and past presidents of the organization.
To date, the Magellan spacecraft has mapped more than 59 percent of the surface of Venus in its 243-day primary mission. Galileo is en route to the giant outer planet of Jupiter using gravity assists from Earth and Venus. In late October, the 2.5-ton spacecraft will fly by Gaspra, a main-belt asteroid, at a distance of approximately 620 miles.
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