for

"But I believed--I believed. I read Verne, and Wells, and Smith, and I believed that we could do it--that we would do it. I set my heart on being one of the men to walk the surface of the Moon, to see her other side, and to look back on the face of the Earth, hanging in the sky."

D. D. Harriman in Requiem, by Robert A. Heinlein

In recognition of his meritorious service to the Nation and mankind in advocating and promoting the exploration of space. Through dozens of superbly written novels and essays and his epoch-making movie Destination Moon, he helped inspire the Nation to take its first step into space and onto the Moon. Even after his death, his books live on as testimony to a man of purpose and vision, a man dedicated to encouraging others to dream, explore and achieve.

Citation accompanying Distinguished Public Service Medal awarded posthumously by National Space and Aeronautics Administration to Robert A. Heinlein, 1988

This is the most important day since the human race learned to talk.

Robert A. Heinlein, the day man first walked on the moon

For myself, we didn't have a space program when I was young, and science fiction was my only contact with planets and space travel and things like that. In fact, I did read Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and they were an inspiration to me because I thought what a wonderful kind of job to have in the future, to be a person who traveled to different planets and explored like that. So it was an early influence on me and later when we did have a space program I thought that it would be a great career choice and I pursued that for several years before I finally was allowed to become an astronaut.

James S. Voss, NASA Astronaut

The arching sky is calling

Spacemen back to their trade.

All hands! Stand by! Free Falling!

And the lights below us fade.

Out ride the sons of Terra,

Far drives the thundering jet,

Up leaps the race of Earthmen,

Out, far, and onward yet--

From The Green Hills of Earth by Robert A. Heinlein

As I wander back to my childhood, and I think even before Sputnik or Telstar or Mercury or Gemini –all those things, I can remember being an eight-year-old back in the hills of West Virginia, going down to the local theater on a Saturday morning and watching Destination Moon. I think that was one of the things that got me started. He made great contributions to our society, to our science fiction, and in fact, to the reality of our Space Program that we’re living with today.

Jon A. McBride, NASA Astronaut

Behaving on a still higher moral level were the astronauts who went to the Moon, for their actions tend toward the survival of the entire race of mankind. The door they opened leads to the hope that h. sapiens will survive indefinitely long, even longer than this solid planet on which we stand tonight. As a direct result of what they did, it is now possible that the human race will never die.

Many short-sighted fools think that going to the Moon was just a stunt. But the astronauts knew the meaning of what they were doing, as is shown by Neil Armstrong's first words in stepping down onto the soil of Luna: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

The Pragmatics of Patriotism by Robert A. Heinlein

Robert Heinlein had as much to do with creating our future as any man of this century. . .most of JPL’s [NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory] scientists and engineers would never have been there if his stories had not called them to study and learn so that they could make his dreams a reality. His stories have caused more young people to choose careers in science and engineering than all of the formal recruitment pitches ever tried. His stories made us ready, convinced us that it could be done. Robert Heinlein was truly The Man Who Sold the Moon.

Dr. Jerry Pournelle, Chairman, Citizen's Advisory Council on National Space Policy

Our race will spread out through space--unlimited room, unlimited energy, unlimited wealth. This is certain.

Spinoff by Robert A. Heinlein

Bob Heinlein helped to create the first science fiction movie I ever saw, Destination Moon, which was also the first truly serious attempt to describe a trip to the moon. Bob Heinlein made footsteps big enough for a whole country to follow. And it was our country that did it. . .our country will inevitably proceed down the path marked by the ideas of Bob Heinlein.

Tom Clancy, Author of The Sum of All Fears