TV's Stephen Colbert Awards NASA Medal to Voyager 1 Scientist

12-14-2013 • http://www.space.com, by Nola Taylor Redd

When NASA wanted to present veteran Voyager project scientist Ed Stone with the Distinguished Public Service Medal — highest honor for a non-government individual — for 40 years of amazing work, the space agency knew just who to call: Stephen Colbert.

Clad in his own version of a spacesuit, Colbert presented Stone the award in style on his Comedy Central talk show The Colbert Report on Dec. 3.

Colbert, quoting a statement by NASA science missions chief John Grunsfeld, said Stone's award was "for a lifetime of extraordinary scientific achievement and outstanding leadership of space science missions, and for his exemplary sharing of the exciting results with the public." [Photos: Voyager 1 in Interstellar Space, a Timeline]

Forty years of work

A member of the California Institute of Technology since 1967, Ed Stone became project scientist for NASA's Voyager mission in 1972, and has been the only person to hold the position over the spacecraft's extended voyage.

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