Von Braun Award Presented to John Grunsfeld of Copernicus Space
Von Braun Award Presented to John Grunsfeld of Copernicus Space
Recognizes Excellence in Space Program Management
AIAA has recognized Copernicus Space Chief Strategy Officer John Grunsfield (pictured, right) with the prestigious von Braun Award for Excellence in Space Management for 2023.
Named after Dr. Wernher von Braun, one of the world's most impactful rocket engineers and chief architect of the Saturn V rocket program, this AIAA award gives national recognition to an individual for outstanding contributions in the management of a significant space or space-related program or project.
Dr. Grunsfeld received this award for “exceptional leadership of America’s space science program resulting in amazing achievements exploring our Earth, our solar system, and unravelling the mysteries of the cosmos.” Dr. Grunsfeld served as NASA chief scientist from 2003 to 2004 and as Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate from 2012 to 2016. As Associate Administrator, he oversaw pivotal programs and missions in space science and exploration and managed a $7B/year program portfolio including Earth Science, Astrophysics, Planetary Science, Heliophysics, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the NOAA weather satellite program. Dr. Grunsfeld is also a member of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, having flown on five space shuttle missions including three to upgrade and service the Hubble Space Telescope. The award was presented to Dr. Grunsfeld at the AIAA ASCEND meeting October 24, 2023 in Las Vegas, NV.
At Copernicus, Dr. Grunsfeld continues to apply his leadership to space projects and space exploration. Copernicus is dedicated to advancing the exploration of our solar system via uniquely scalable and cost-effective Swarm Exploration platforms which feature distributed sensors and high performance computing onboard. These systems and Dr. Grunsfeld’s leadership will ultimately enable Copernicus’s long-term vision of sustainably and intelligently searching for signs of extant or extinct microbial life within our solar system.