STARKVILLE — Terry Abel, a two-time graduate of Mississippi State’s Bagley College of Engineering, has received NASA’s prestigious Silver Snoopy award, an honor given to employees and contractors for exceptional contributions to spaceflight safety and mission success.

The Silver Snoopy is awarded to fewer than 1% of NASA’s workforce each year and is personally presented by astronauts. Each recipient receives a commemorative Snoopy pin that has flown on a previous Space Shuttle mission.

Abel works at Lockheed Martin as a technical liaison to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where he oversees on-site activities, including work on the Orion spacecraft, part of NASA’s Artemis program to send humans to the moon and ensure safe return. Abel said he feels “extremely blessed” to receive an award he has long admired.

“I am deeply honored and extremely grateful to have been nominated and selected for NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award,” Abel said. “This award reflects our commitment at Lockheed Martin to prioritize crew safety in support of NASA’s Artemis program as we prepare to transport a crew to the moon in early 2026 and future missions to follow.”

A key project that led to the award involved the heat shield of the Artemis I Orion spacecraft. During re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, the heat shield developed cracks. Abel’s work on material inspection, analysis, modeling and testing helped refine the heat shield to prevent future problems.

In addition to the Silver Snoopy, Abel received a Circle of Excellence award from Orion Program Manager Howard Hu of Johnson Space Center for “sustained dedication to the Orion Program, providing expert leadership in fabrication, machining, testing and NDE of critical Orion hardware across Artemis missions for over a decade.”

Abel also earned NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2017, one of just 14 awarded that year, recognizing his profound impact on the agency’s success.

In Huntsville, Abel has managed the creation of more than 1,500 Orion parts, ensuring they meet safety standards through extensive testing to withstand the harsh conditions of space. Abel said his recognition reflects the dedication of his team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from MSU in 1982 and a master’s in mechanical engineering in 1983. He was named a Bagley College of Engineering Distinguished Fellow in 2016.

The Bagley College of Engineering is online at www.bagley.msstate.edu and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube at @msuengineering.