Named in honor of Tom Paine, a member of The Planetary Society's Board of Directors for many years and NASA Administrator at the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the award recognizes the group or individual who has done the most to advance the long-range human exploration of Mars.
Past recipients of the Paine Award include Michael C. Malin, the U.S. and Soviet members of the Apollo-Soyuz Crew; Daniel Goldin, then Administrator of NASA; Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA Research Center and now Planetary Society Board Member; members of the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor teams; science fiction author Ray Bradbury; and, posthumously, Planetary Society co-founder Carl Sagan.
Photography Alberto Rodriguez (Alan Berliner Photographers Hollywood) courtesy The Planetary Society
