Photos By Mary Alys Cherry
Long-time UHCL friends Capt. Wendell Wilson and his wife, Dr. Pat Wilson, at left, and Dr. Ted Cummings, all now retired, talk about old times while enjoying the Space Gala.
Dr. Ellen Ochoa, former Johnson Space Center Director, is presented the National Space Trophy by former Johnson Space Center Director Michael Coats, left, and NASA Deputy Administrator Robert Cabana at the 2022 Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Gala.
Dr. Vissett Sun and his wife, Adrienne, look over the crowd as they arrive at the Hyatt Regency for the RNASA Space Gala.
Space Communicator Award winner and NASA senior photographer Bill Ingalls, left, is presented the award by Rob Navias, 2017 award winner.
Dr. Ellen Ochoa presented National Space Trophy
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R. ELLEN OCHOA, a retired Johnson Space Center director, was finally presented the 2020 National Space Trophy at this year’s Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Gala after a twoyear delay due to the pandemic that brought the country to a standstill. The black-tie crowd of more than 700 cheered as Michael Coats, also a retired JSC director, and Robert Cabana, NASA associate administrator and a former Kennedy Space Center director, made the presentation in the Downtown Houston Hyatt Regency Hotel Ballroom. Looking out at the crowd, Dr. Ochoa told them, “there’s nothing that people can’t achieve when they work together for a common goal. To be part of that team for 30 years is the greatest possible reward, and this recognition by my peers tonight is icing on the cake…It seems to me that in the last two years almost all the positive and exciting news
National Space Trophy winner Dr. Ellen Ochoa receives congratulations from congressional candidate Jon Haire as the Space Gala comes to an end.
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MARY ALYS CHERRY
in the world came from milestones achieved in human and robotic spaceflight.” "We get to make exciting discoveries . . . develop new technologies that enrich and improve people’s lives", she continued, glancing down at her husband, attorney Coe Miles, and two sons, Wilson and Jordan, “and by achieving astounding feats, we change people’s lives. And that last one, inspiration, is the hardest to measure but clearly the most significant. What could be more important than bringing hope, pride, or resolve to someone else’s life?”
Faces in the crowd at the RNASA Space Gala included ERC Program Manager Darryl Smith, left, and his wife Monique with Barrios Technology Vice President Robert McAfoos.
Bay Area Houston Magazine | JUNE 2022
Looking around as RNASA President Rodolfo Gonzalez welcomed the crowd, you might have spotted Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche and her husband, Attorney George Wyche Jr., Kennedy Space Center Director Janet Petro, Glenn Research Center Director Dr. Maria Davis and former Director Janet Kavandi, now president of Sierra Space. The guest list read like a Who’s Who in the space industry and included Lockheed Martin Space VPs Robert M Lightfoot Jr., Kirk Shireman and Mike Hawes, Barrios CEO Sandy Johnson, President Kelly Page and VP Robert McAfoos, MRI Technologies owners Debbie and Tim Kropp; former Marshall Center Director Todd May, now KBRwyle senior VP, Oceaneering GM Mike Bloomfield and VP David Cates, Bastion Technologies President Jorge Hernandez,
Bob Wren, one of the early founders of the RNASA Space Gala, and his wife Jordis join the crowd at the Hyatt Regency for the Space Awards Gala.
Eileen Collins, center, the first woman to command a space shuttle mission, visits with Space Center Rotarians Delia Stephens, left, and Mary Alys Cherry as the RNASA Space Gala ends as they prepare to head for home.
