SPACE AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN ROD PYLE TO BE AWARDED NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY’S SPACE PIONEER AWARD
May 13, 2023, Bradenton, FL – On May 25, the National Space Society will give its prestigious Space Pioneer Award for Media to Rod Pyle, noted space book author and historian, writer of numerous NASA publications, space journalist and podcaster, and editor of the NSS’s “Ad Astra” magazine. The award will be presented at the society’s annual International Space Development Conference, being held this year in Los Angeles, California, from May 23-26.
“I could not be more pleased that Rod will be receiving this award”, said planetary scientist Dr. Pascal Lee, who will be presenting the award. “His books are all deeply researched, wonderfully insightful, and written with expert knowledge and passion. They are lasting treasures of space history and must-reads for modern space explorers.” Dr. Lee also received a NSS Space Pioneer Award for his work in planetary science and Mars exploration in 2023.
I could not be more pleased that Rod will be receiving this award … His books are all deeply researched, wonderfully insightful, and written with expert knowledge and passion.”
— Dr. Pascal Lee, Planetary Scientist
Pyle’s many book credits include “Space 2.0”, a look at the new space age, published by Ben Bella Books and the NSS, with a foreword by Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin. In addition to being sold in the general marketplace, the book is used by multiple aerospace graduate schools as well as the U.S. Space Force and Air Force. He also authored “First On The Moon,” a 50th anniversary book about the Apollo program (also with a foreword by Buzz Aldrin), which became a national best seller. Other books include “Amazing Stories of the Space Age,” “Heroes of the Space Age,” “Missions to the Moon” (also a best seller), “Curiosity: The Inside Story of the Mars Rover,” and “Destination Mars.”
Pyle has written countless articles for Space.com, Popular Science, Wired, BBC’s Sky at Night, LiveScience.com, Caltech’s E&S Magazine, and other periodicals. He has also written and produced space documentaries for Discovery Communications and The History Channel, among others. Pyle is a frequent guest on The History Channel’s “The UnXplained: With William Shatner” and was recently featured in the U.K. show “Secrets Of The Solar System.” He also co-hosts the popular “This Week in Space” podcast with Space.com Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik and is a frequent guest on radio stations worldwide.
Additional publications include “The Apollo Leadership Experience” for the NASA Johnson Space Center and The Conference Board, a C-suite education program; as well as the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s “Technology Highlights” annual report, which has won numerous awards for editorial content. Pyle is also the Editor-in-Chief of the National Space Society’s quarterly magazine “Ad Astra,” now sold in major bookstores across the U.S. and Canada. Pyle has a BA from the Art Center College of Design and a MA from Stanford University, and studied astronomy at UCLA.
Other notables at this year’s ISDC include “Star Trek” star William Shatner, former NASA astronauts Susan Kilrain and José M. Hernández, Dr. Alan Stern of NASA’s New Horizons mission, Dr. Pascal Lee of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames, former Chief Engineer of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Rob Manning, Chairman of the NSS Board of Governors Karlton Johnson, and will be hosted by Melissa Navia, star of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.” For more information, please go to the ISDC website at isdc.nss.org.
“The ISDC is the only major space conference that is intended for everyone, from space professionals to students to the lay public. It is the largest and longest running space conference anywhere,” said Aggie Kobrin, the NSS Event Manager. “We’re thrilled to have Rod receiving the Space Pioneer Award for Media before an audience ranging from seasoned NASA professionals to hundreds of young people, all of whom are deeply interested in space.”
