NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Alison Schutt
(202) 543-1900

NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY GOVERNOR, MICHAEL DEBAKEY, HONORED BY NASA ADMINISTRATOR

The National Space Society congratulates its Governor, Dr. Michael DeBakey, on winning NASA's Commercial Invention of the Year award. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe presented Dr. DeBakey, the man known as the father of modern cardiovascular surgery, with the agency's award during a ceremony at NASA Headquarters today.

Dr. DeBakey was honored for his work on an innovative heart pump based on technology found in the engines that power space shuttles into orbit. The small ventricular-assist device, known as the VAD, is designed to be a bridge for heart patients who often are forced to wait months, if not years, for a donor organ. The VAD may also be used as a permanent way to help strengthen the beat of a weakened heart.

Dr. DeBakey has been an NSS Governor for many years and we are pleased that his hard work and dedication in the field of cardiovascular surgery is once again recognized.

The National Space Society, founded in 1974, is an independent, nonprofit space advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Its 25,000 members and 50 chapters around the world actively promote a spacefaring civilization. Information on NSS and space exploration is available at http://www.nss.org.