It is with great excitement that the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) shares that the James Webb Space Telescope has earned the 2022 Robert J. Collier Award.
The Robert J. Collier Trophy has been awarded annually since 1911 for the “greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year.” The NAA, which was founded in 1905, is the official record keeper for American aviation and serves to recognize and advance the art, sport and science of aviation in the United States.
The list of Collier recipients represents a timeline of the most groundbreaking aviation achievements that created today’s aerospace industry. Previous recipients include momentous people and achievements such as Orville Wright (1913), Chuck Yeager (1947), and NASA/JPL Ingenuity Team (2021). The James Webb Space Telescope is appropriately placed among these history makers for its unprecedented discovery mission to explore, identify and photograph what lies beyond what is currently known and to seek what is unknown.
