10 Jun 2016

NASA's Dawn mission, representing the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial targets, was honored with the National Aeronautic Association Robert J. Collier Trophy at a presentation in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday, June 9, 2016.
The award, presented annually, was given to Dawn "In recognition of the extraordinary achievements of orbiting and exploring protoplanet Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, and advancing the nation's technological capabilities in pioneering new frontiers in space travel."

The 8-foot-tall (2.4-meter-tall) trophy resides at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington and is engraved with the names of recipients. Dawn competed with a field of nine finalists to win this year's award. Dawn's mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Previous Collier Trophy recipients involving JPL missions include the teams from NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (2012) and Voyager (1980).

"All of us at NASA are very proud of our Dawn team. For the past eight years, Dawn has taught us much about Vesta and Ceres, and in a broader sense, about ourselves," said NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman. "This mission isn't only for scientists. It's for all of us who want to discover the nature of uncharted worlds and share that discovery with all who gaze up at the night sky in wonderment."

Image:
(Left) Annual Robert J. Collier Trophy Dinner on Thursday, June 9, 2016 in Arlington, VaNASA Deputy Administrator Dr. Dava Newman, left, Dr. Charles Elachi, Director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, center, and Dr. Marc Rayman, Dawn Mission Director and Chief Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, right, accept the 2015 Robert J. Collier Trophy on behalf of the NASA/JPL Dawn Mission Team at the Annual Robert J. Collier Trophy Dinner on Thursday, June 9, 2016 in Arlington, Va. The Collier Trophy is awarded annually for the greatest achievement in aeronauts or astronautics in America.