Former NASA official and astronaut Bob Cabana receives top civilian award

Robert Cabana, a former NASA deputy administrator, astronaut and U.S. Marine Corps colonel, received the Presidential Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service in recognition of his outstanding achievements and public service to the nation. The award, signed by President Biden, is the highest honor bestowed by the federal government on a federal civilian employee.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Associate Administrator Pam Melroy presented Cabana with the award during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters in Washington on January 10. Cabana most recently served as NASA's deputy administrator, serving as the agency's highest-ranking civil servant from 2021 until his retirement from the agency at the end of 2023.

“Bob was a true public servant who spent his entire career serving his country. I believe there is no one more deserving of this rare honor than Bob,” Nelson said. “From serving as a Navy pilot to serving as NASA's deputy administrator, Bob dedicated his life to improving his country. I join President Biden in thanking Bob for his dedication and commitment.”

The award recognizes Cabana's roles as a Marine Corps pilot, test pilot, astronaut and as the first American to enter the International Space Station. He was further recognized for pushing the boundaries of what was possible, launching the James Webb Space Telescope, the Artemis 1 mission and the Orion spacecraft, which would return humans to the moon for the first time in decades.

As a NASA astronaut, Cabana flew in space four times, twice as commander. His last shuttle flight was the first International Space Station assembly mission in 1998. Cabana also served as director of the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for more than a decade. There, he led the transition from a retired space shuttle to a multi-user spaceport that once again launched NASA astronauts into low Earth orbit, and for the first time did so with commercial partners.

As NASA's deputy administrator, Cabana leads the agency's 10 center directors as well as the deputy administrator for the Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. He is chief operating officer of the agency's more than 18,000 employees and oversees an annual budget of more than $25 billion.

Cabana was selected as an astronaut candidate in June 1985 and completed training in July 1986. During four space shuttle missions, he spent 38 days in space. Cabana was a pilot aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-41 mission that deployed the Ulysses spacecraft in October 1990 and the STS-53 mission in December 1992. He was the mission commander for Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-65 mission in July 1994, which conducted experiments as part of the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission. In December 1998, he commanded the Space Shuttle Endeavor on mission STS-88.

Cabana was appointed as a senior federal administrator in 2000 and held several senior management positions at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, eventually becoming deputy director. In October 2007, he was appointed director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and was selected as NASA's Kennedy director a year later.

Cabana was born in Minneapolis and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He became a naval pilot and graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1981. During his career, Cabana flew more than 50 different types of aircraft and logged more than 7,000 hours. In September 2000, he retired from the United States Marine Corps as a colonel.

In addition to receiving the Presidential Award for Distinguished Federal Service, Cabana's achievements have been recognized by being inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame and being named a Research Associate at the National Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Fellow of the Association of Experimental Test Pilots. He received many personal awards and decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Presidential Distinguished Military Rank Award. He is also the recipient of the Rotary National Space Achievement Award National Space Trophy.

For a complete profile of Cabana, please visit:

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Meira Bernstein/Jennifer Doron
Headquarters, Washington
202-615-1747/202-358-1600
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