page_title: Thomas P. Stafford
section_title: Awards and honors
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas P. Stafford / Awards and honors
caption_attribution_description: English: US astronaut Thomas Stafford was awarded the Medal for Merits in Space Exploration.Русский: Медалью «За заслуги в освоении космоса» награждён астронавт из США Томас Стаффорд.
context_page_description: Lt Gen Thomas Patten Stafford USAF, Ret. is an American former Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and one of 24 people who flew to the Moon. He also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1969 to 1971.
  After graduating from the United States Naval Academy, Stafford commissioned in the United States Air Force, flying the F-86 Sabre prior becoming a test pilot. He was selected to become an astronaut in 1962, and flew aboard Gemini 6A and Gemini 9. In 1969, Stafford was the Commander of Apollo 10, the second crewed mission to orbit the Moon and the first to fly a Lunar Module in lunar orbit, descending to an altitude of nine miles.
  In 1975, Stafford was the commander of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flight, the first joint U.S.-Soviet space mission. Stafford was a brigadier general at the time of the mission, becoming the first general officer to fly in space, as well as the first member of his Naval Academy class to pin on the first, second, and third stars of a general officer. He made six rendezvous in space and logged 507 hours of space flight. He has flown over 120 different types of fixed wing and rotary aircraft and three different types of spacecraft.
context_section_description: Throughout his career, Stafford received numerous awards for his accomplishments.  He was a recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Award (1969), the Harmon International Aviation Trophy (1966),  the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Special Trustees Award (1969), the Society of Experimental Test Pilots James H. Doolittle Award (1979) and the Elmer A. Sperry Award (2008).  Stafford received recognition from both the U.S. and Russian governments, with the U.S. Congressional Space Medal of Honor (1993) and the Russian Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (2011).
  Stafford's military decorations and awards include: the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ribbon with three oak leaf clusters. Other awards presented to Stafford include: NASA Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, NASA Exceptional Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Octave Chanute Award (1976), the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Space Award, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1976), the National Geographic Society's General Thomas D. White USAF Space Trophy (1975), and the A. B. Honts Award as the outstanding graduate from the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School. He was awarded the Gold Space Medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in 1976. FAI created an exception which allowed Leonov to be awarded it alongside him; typically the award is restricted to one person per year.
  In 2011, he was awarded the National Aeronautic Association Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, and the Air Force Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2014.  Stafford is an inductee of the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame, International Air & Space Hall of Fame, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and the International Space Hall of Fame. He is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and a member of the Explorers Club.
  Stafford is the recipient of several honorary degrees. These include: a Doctorate of Science from Oklahoma City University; a Doctorate of Laws from Western State University; a Doctorate of Communications from Emerson College, and a Doctorate of Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
  In his hometown of Weatherford, Stafford was honored with a building at Southwestern Oklahoma State University named in his honor, the Thomas P. Stafford Airport, and the Stafford Air & Space Museum.
  The Stafford Building at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City is named after him.
  In Hydro, Oklahoma, 60 miles west of Oklahoma City, Stafford was honored with a corn maze, which was intentionally cut to be visible from space.
caption: Stafford was presented with the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on April 12, 2011, at the Moscow Kremlin
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