DSM

Award Criteria

This award is presented to give unique recognition to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself with service to the Space Ops organization. The recipient shall be an individual who has shown exceptional dedication to the interests of the organization by making significant contributions over an extended period of time.

Award Description and Rewards

a. Medal with neck ribbon of blue (ocean), green (land), sky blue (atmosphere), black (space) and yellow (sun/stars) stripes; and a lapel pin of the medal. The medal shall be engraved on the reverse with the name of the award, the name of the recipient, and date of the award. The medal and lapel pin shall have a leather-like presentation case.

b. An 11” x 14”certificate (signed by SpaceOps Chair of the Conference and Awards Group Chair) shall be presented to each recipient. The certificate, on which is printed a citation of up to 25 words, shall be contained in a leather-like presentation folder.

c. The recipient shall be offered a complimentary full registration to the conference at which the award will be presented. If the recipient is unable to attend the conference, then this complimentary registration is not transferable.

d. A description of the award presentation and accomplishments of the awardee resulting in the award of the DSM shall be published in the Space Operations Communicator. Figure 3: Obverse and Reverse of SpaceOps Distinguished Service Medal with Neck Ribbon

Specific Rules and Regulations

a. The SpaceOps Distinguished Service Medal award shall be biennial and presented at a meeting or event (e.g., dinner) of the SpaceOps Executive Committee and Committee-at-Large in conjunction with the biennial SpaceOps Conference, or at the same ceremony at which the AOA and EAM are presented.

b. A maximum of two (2) awards may be made biennially. No award needs to be made at any given conference. The maximum number for a particular biennial cycle may be increased upon issuance of a waiver by the ExCom upon request by the AG.

c. Nominations for the DSM may only be accepted from sitting members of the CAL, former or sitting members of the ExCom, and former recipients of the DSM regardless of their membership in the AG.

d. Only one candidate needs to be nominated via the AIAA/SpaceOps nomination process in order for the award to be presented.

e. Each nominator can nominate only one (1) person for the DSM, LAM, or the EAM.

f. Each endorser of a nomination can provide an endorsement for only one (1) nomination per award cycle.

g. No current member of the Awards Group Subcommittee shall be eligible to receive the DSM.

h. Length of service to space operations shall be an important factor in the selection of candidates. The length of service includes all space operations activities and not just to the SpaceOps Organization, although the time of service to the SpaceOps Organization shall weigh greater than the time of other service (i.e., of more value).

i. Qualified nominations shall be accepted in the year the nominations open, then carried over for two years to be included in the next nomination cycle if approved by a majority of the AG and upon confirmation by the nominator to the AG Chair, thus shall be considered for a total of three years. The nominator shall be given the opportunity to update the nomination package.

j. Awarding of the EAM, LAM, and DSM is mutually exclusive for the same recipient in the same award cycle. If nominations for more than one award are received, the AG shall decide which award is the most suitable for the recipient. However, the same recipient may receive more than one of these awards as long as they were presented in different award cycles.