The 2006 Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner

The 49th Annual Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Dinner was held on Friday, March 17, 2006 in the Washington Hilton Ballroom. A reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. preceded the dinner, with dinner starting at 7:30. National Space Club President Mark Rochlin of The Aerospace Corporation was the master of ceremonies, and the featured speaker was Washington Post writer Joel Achenbach. Mr. Achenbach's biographical notes are given below.

The award ceremonies culminated with the presentation of the Goddard Memorial Trophy to Dr. James A. Van Allen of Iowa State University, the discoverer of the radiation belts around the earth that now bear his name. The trophy was accepted on his behalf by his son, Peter C. Van Allen, shown here (on the right) with Club President Mark Rochlin and the Goddard Trophy.

Other award winners honored during the evening's presentations were:

The Olin E. Teague Memorial Scholarship

Daniel L. Schafer
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology

The Dr. Robert H. Goddard Memorial Scholarship

Caroline Leigh Yount
Clemson University

The Dr. George M. Low Memorial Fellowship

Gregory C. Carmouche (left)
NASA Stennis Space Center
Dr. Karen J. Weiland (right)
NASA Glenn Research Center

The Dr. Joseph V. Charyk Award

Dr. Thomas F. Burns
National Reconnaissance Office

The NOAA David Johnson Award

Jeffrey T. Morisette
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The Space Educator Award

Martin Teachworth
La Jolla High School
La Jolla, California

The Eagle Manned Mission Success Award

Donna M. Freeland
United Space Alliance

The Astronautics Engineer Award

William H. Gerstenmaier
NASA Headquarters

The Nelson P. Jackson Aerospace Award

Andrew Dantzler (left)
NASA Headquarters
Robert Mitchell (right)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Joel Achenbach of The Washington Post: Keynote Speaker for the 2006 Goddard Dinner

Joel Achenbach is a staff writer at The Washington Post, where he was a syndicated columnist producing the "Why Things Are" column from 1990-1996, and an online columnist for washingtonpost.com from 1999-2002, "Joel Achenbach’s Rough Draft." He has written a monthly column since 2002 for The National Geographic Magazine, entitled "Who Knew?" He is the author of six books, including, most recently, "The Grand Idea: George Washington’s Potomac and the Race to the West" (Simon & Schuster 2004). Other books include "Captured by Aliens: The Search for Life and Truth in a Very Large Universe" (S&S 1999); three collections of the Why column, and a collection of Rough Draft columns ("It Looks Like a President Only Smaller").

He is the author of "Achenblog: Daily Humor and Observations from Joel Achenbach", which can be found at blogs.washingtonpost.com, and is a freelance contributor to National Public Radio (1991-present), Smithsonian Magazine, Slate, Gentleman’s Quarterly, Outside, and many other publications.

Joel Achenbach received a B.A. in Politics (magna cum laude) from Princeton University in 1982. He taught at Princeton in the Fall semester of 2002, presenting Humanities 440 "The Literature of Fact." This was part of the Ferris program for visiting journalists, and focused on nonfiction writing, ranging from short descriptive pieces to longer essays.

Achenbach was born in 1960 in Gainesville, Florida, and now lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife Mary Stapp and their three daughters.

All photos courtesy of Morris Semiatin, for the National Space Club.

Back to top