Newsman Walter Cronkite to be honored by NASA

Cronkite, a former student at The University of Texas at Austin, became the first non-astronaut and only non-NASA individual to receive the award—a small sample of lunar material encased in Lucite and mounted for public display. NASA also is presenting the Ambassador of Exploration Award, in ceremonies elsewhere, to the 38 astronauts and other key individuals who participated in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs, for realizing Americas vision of space exploration from 1961 to 1972.

Cronkite attended The University of Texas at Austin in the 1930s and worked as a student reporter for The Daily Texan campus newspaper. Although he did not graduate from the university, he has never forgotten his alma mater. He has been an adjunct faculty member in the College of Communication and taught a three-day honors seminar in 1988. Friends and supporters have endowed the Walter Cronkite Regents Chair in Communication, which at his request, is reserved for the dean of the College of Communication. He also has lent his voice to the UT Virtual Campus, a multimedia tour of the campus available on the Internet. He also has dubbed the voiceover for a series of university television spots that air nationally and regionally during athletic events.

The moon rock to be awarded to Cronkite is part of the 842 pounds of samples brought back to Earth during the six Apollo lunar expeditions from 1969 to 1972. Cronkite will present the lunar sample to William Powers Jr., president of The University of Texas at Austin, who will accept the award on behalf of the Center for American History, the archival home of the Walter Cronkite papers. The sample will be displayed in the centers exhibit gallery.

"We are deeply honored by Walter Cronkites decision to entrust this prestigious award to the Center for American History," said the centers director, Don Carleton, Ph.D., the J.R. Parten Chair in the Archives of American History. "The center already serves as the proud steward of his professional and personal papers, which include his coverage of the space program for CBS News. It is especially fitting that the archive documenting Walters distinguished career should also include one of the Moon rocks that the heroic astronauts of the Apollo program brought to Earth."

Cronkite is the best-remembered journalist for his commentary and enthusiastic coverage of the historic progression of missions from the early Mercury launches, through the groundbreaking Gemini missions, to the Apollo 11 and subsequent moon landings. His marathon, live coverage of the first moon landing brought the excitement and impact of the historic event into the homes of millions of Americans and observers around the world.

SOURCE: University of Texas at Austin: Office of Public Affairs

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