Peterson receives Silver Snoopy award

Special to The Pass Post

Silver Snoopy Award recipients included (l to r), front row: NASA Shared Services Executive Director Anita Harrell; Felisha Jarrell; Alicia Bartee; NASA Astronaut Nicole Mann; Stacey Goodloe; Joseph Richard; NASA Stennis Director Christine Powell; and second row: Jason Peterson, Huy Nguyen, Kenneth McCormack and James Cain.

Several employees at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis recently received the agency’s prestigious Space Flight Awareness Silver Snoopy award.

Jason Peterson, originally from Pass Christian, was recently one of eight employees at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis who received the agency’s prestigious Space Flight Awareness Silver Snoopy award

Peterson is the NASA range and aviation operations manager at NASA Stennis. He is recognized for his commitment, innovation and leadership in advancing NASA’s human spaceflight program. His work has delivered significant contributions that enhance flight safety, mission success, and operational efficiency within Uncrewed Aircraft Systems operations.

Officials say their efforts contribute to the mission at the nation’s largest propulsion test site, which supports both NASA’s return to the Moon through the Artemis program and a range of commercial aerospace companies.

NASA astronaut Nicole Mann presented the Silver Snoopy awards to the employees. Mann became an astronaut in 2013 as one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class. In 2022, she launched to the International Space Station as the commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew‑5 mission. The crew spent 157 days in orbit and supported hundreds of experiments that advanced human spaceflight and benefited life on Earth. Mann executed two spacewalks, conducting upgrades to the space station’s solar arrays, totaling 14 hours, 02 minutes.

In addition to the award, Mann also presented each recipient with a Silver Snoopy lapel pin flown aboard NASA’s Endeavour space shuttle on the STS-118 mission to the International Space Station in August 2007.

Other employees honored included Alicia Bartee, James Cain, Stacey Goodloe, Felisha Jarrell, Kenneth McCormack, Huy Nguyen and Joseph Richard.

NASA’s Space Flight Awareness Program recognizes outstanding job performances and contributions by civil service and contract employees throughout the year and focuses on excellence in quality and safety in support of human spaceflight. The Silver Snoopy Award is the astronauts’ personal award and is presented to less than one percent of the total NASA workforce annually. The award is presented by a member of the astronaut corps representing its core principles for outstanding flight safety and mission success.