2026 Michael Collins Trophy Awarded to NASA's Boeing Starliner Test Flight Crew

2026 Michael Collins Trophy Awarded to NASA's Boeing Starliner Test Flight Crew

The winners of the National Air and Space Museum’s 2026 Michael Collins Trophy for current achievement is the Boeing Starliner Flight Test crew.

Astronauts Sunita “Suni” Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore’s extensive spaceflight experience prepared them to not just adapt but excel with personal strength, grace, and competence when their eight-day mission turned into one that lasted more than nine months.

Astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams NASA Biography
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/williams-sl.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-astronaut-suni-williams-retires/

Astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore NASA Biography
https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/wilmore-be.pdf
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-astronaut-barry-butch-wilmore-retires/

National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Press Release

https://www.airandspace.si.edu/newsroom/press-releases/national-air-and-space-museums-2026-michael-collins-trophy-awarded-farouk

NASA Releases Report on Starliner Crewed Flight Test Investigation
https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-releases-report-on-starliner-crewed-flight-test-investigation/

In 2014, NASA awarded a Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract to Boeing to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station with its Starliner spacecraft. Certification of Boeing’s Starliner remains important to NASA’s goal of sustained human presence in low Earth orbit and dissimilar redundancy is essential to supporting the agency’s goals and international obligations.

Through the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), NASA is working with business partners to build rockets and spacecraft. The Commercial Crew Program has made it possible for astronauts to launch to space from the United States once again.

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at: 

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

An international partnership of space agencies provides and operates the elements of the International Space Station (ISS). The principals are the space agencies of the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada. The ISS has been the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken.

The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., United States, dedicated to human flight and space exploration.

Video Credit: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Duration: 5 minutes
Release Date: March 28, 2026

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