John L. "Jack" Swigert, Jr., Award for Space Exploration

The Space Foundation was founded in 1983, in part to honor the memory and accomplishments of astronaut John L. 'Jack' Swigert, Jr. A Colorado native, Swigert served with retired U.S. Navy Captain James A. Lovell, Jr., and Fred Haise on the legendary Apollo 13 lunar mission, which was aborted after the perilous rupture of an oxygen tank en route to the Moon. People around the world watched as NASA overcame tremendous odds to return the crew safely to Earth. The Space Foundation created the Jack Swigert Award for Space Exploration in 2004 in tribute to his enduring legacy of space exploration. The Jack Swigert Award is presented annually at the National Space Symposium.

Honored for 2012 is the NASA Kepler Mission for the discovery of 61 confirmed extrasolar planets and over 2,300 planet candidates in the first 16 months of observations from May 2009 to September 2010. Read more here. See pictures of the awards ceremony here. See video here.

Recipients:
2012 NASA Kepler Mission
2011 No award
2010 The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission team
2009 NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander Team
2008 Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
2007 The California Institute of Technology
2006 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
2005 NASA's Mars Exploration Team from JPL
2004 President George W. Bush