Denise, and her award recipient husband Michael Okuda in Mission Control, during a 2004 visit to the Johnson Space Center.
Michael Okuda has been selected to receive one of NASA’s highest honors; the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal. “The award is granted only to individuals whose distinguished accomplishments contributed substantially to the NASA mission. The contribution must be so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate.” Mike and Denise will be going to the Johnson Space Center next month to the NASA Honor Awards Ceremony. Go Hot dog! GO!
Congratulations Mike! I’m popping my vest buttons!
Many congratulations Mike! That’s awesome stuff!
Outstanding! Well deserved. Congratulations.
WOW
Outstanding!
Congratulations!
I can say, “I know HIM!”
Oh wow! What an honor, Mike, you must be thrilled!! And I can just imagine how proud Denise is!!
WOW! My goodness gracious! Well done Mike, and congratulations, and then some, eh. Wow.
LLP,
deg
Congrats Mike, you’ve earned a rare deserved honor! … Can we all say Kapla!
Wow what an honor, congratulations Mike!
***applause applause***
Congratulations, Mr. Okuda! Well deserved!
Wow! Congrats! Just amazing…
And with you go the dreams, the wishes, and the hopes of all of us; that in the reflection of the real-space efforts, we will see our future. We will see that future not in just the amazing technical accomplishments that NASA regularly provides, but in the realization of all we can acheive as curious humans; a people who reach beyond the stars. With you goes our support and excitement; an extended familiy who shared your talents in fantasy you embraced until you made those talents a history in reality. With you goes the message; that ‘enough is never,’ and that when one pushes their skill and potential to the limit, the stars are just the beginning.
Live long, and prosper; not because you wished for it, but because you very well earned it.
The DC
Okay Mike, I’ll ask it again:
When do they let you go up in the shuttle?
Seriously, Congratulations!!!
Mike and Denise! That is fantastic! An honor well deserved!
Congratulations, Mike! That’s quite an honor!
Should ask them if you could get a seat in the last shuttle flight.
Ahh Mike that is such awesome news!!! Congratulations good buddy and we at the Eaves House are all so very proud of you and Denise too…
Hey, all right. Congrats to Mike. Just saw him and Denise (‘Catnip’ to the BB gang) on that ‘Star Trek Tech’ show History has been re-running since the new movie popped. up.
(I can say I kinda know him.
)
Thanks, all! It is a totally unexpected honor. It is a great privilege to be able to make a contribution – however small – to NASA’s mission.
Actually, I think that all of us lucky enough to work in science fiction are making a contribution to the exploration of space. A lot of folks at NASA were inspired – at least in part – by the sense of wonder and adventure that they got from Star Trek and other s-f works when they were growing up.
Awesome Mike!
And strongly agreed.
Trek has inspired so many more then we realize. Dreams come before the reality.
“The visions we present to our children shape the future. It matters what those visions are. Often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Dreams are maps….
Our children long for realistic maps of a future they (and we) can be proud of.
Where are the cartographers of human purpose?” ~ Carl Sagan
Star Trek is one of those maps.
Congratulations Mike. It is well deserved.
Wow! Many congratulations, Mike! A well deserved honor! I’m looking forward to many more collaborations with NASA in the future!
Many congratulations Mr. Okuda!
Here’s hoping for many more years of your excellent work!
Congratulations Mike it could not go to a more deserving person.
Congrats Mike!
Congratulations Mike, its about time you got a medal for something!
I really think the effort Mike and Denise put into Trek was excpetional, things like LCARS are part of cult history now and will be remembered for many years to come, just like the original Enterprise. To be able to work with NASA after accplishing something like that must be a dream come true for sure. You’re living the dream Mike, you really are
Congratulations, Mike!
Let me add my voice to the chorus!
Congratulations.
Well earned and desereved! Congratulations, Mr. Okuda.
Mike
Way to go! congratulations!
Mike,
Congratulations sir!
Congratulations on a well deserved honor Mike!
How cool is that!
Congrats!
Now go fly the Shuttle before its too late!
Congratulations, Mike!
Now maybe you’ll have the clout to convince NASA to begin work on that manned mission to Saturn. They’re running badly behind schedule…
(The heck with jetpacks, I want my interplanetary sleeper ships!)
Mike Okuda:
Here here, Mike! Without the visionary come before, there is ne’er a destination in view.
LLP,
deg
Wow, congrats Mike!!
Wil Wheaton has caught on to the news and has a nice congrats to Mike on his blog:
http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2009/05/mike-okuda-to-be-honored-by-nasa.html
Paramount should send a camera crew to shoot the ceremony for a future Trek DVD/Blu release.
Oh, and congratulations!!
Well, it’s about damn time they recognize your work, Mr. Okuda!
“The contribution must be so extraordinary that other forms of recognition would be inadequate.”
That’s my favourite line.
Congratulations, Mike!
Your recent mission patches are great!
m.
Congratulations Mike!
And I like the photo with the mission control patch that I have been desperately searching for some time ago.
Well done Michael. Getting any award is fantastic, but one off NASA….flippin amazing.
)