Presidential Message

For at our best, this nation has never feared the future. We've shaped the future. Even when we've endured terrible storms, we haven't given up or turned back -- we've remain fixed on that brighter horizon. That's how we've led in the pursuit of scientific discovery; and in turn that's how science has helped us lead the world.

There's no better illustration than what took place at the close of World War II, when the United States transported dozens of captured V-2 rockets from Germany to New Mexico. These were among the most sophisticated weapons in the world, a reminder that much of World War II was fought far from the battlefield -- by Alan Turing in Bletchley Park, and Oppenheimer in Los Alamos, and by countless others who developed radar and aircraft and antibiotics.

The military wanted to understand this new missile technology that the V-2 represented; but scientists were also invited to use these tests to take measurements of the atmosphere. And then one engineer had an idea: to rig a camera and attach it to one of the rockets. And so in this brief moment between the end of a world war and the start of a cold war, a group of scientists erupted with joy as they discovered that they had captured the very first photos of our world as seen from space. Their work would continue as the Rocket and Satellite Research Panel. And after the launch of Sputnik in 1957, the work of this panel would be assumed by a new agency, called NASA. The research into these weapons of war would lead to the missions of Mercury and Gemini and Apollo.

That's the incredible promise of the work scientists do every day -- like the scientists, researchers, and engineers, and innovators we honor with these medals. Yes, scientific progress offers us a chance to achieve prosperity and defend our nation. It has offered us benefits that have improved our lives and our health -- improvements that we often take for granted. But it also gives us something more. At root, science forces us to reckon with the truth as best as we can ascertain it, and to reckon with the power that comes from this knowledge -- for good and for ill. With each new discovery brings new responsibility to move past our differences and to address our shared problems; to embrace a sense of wonder, and our common humanity.

Carl Sagan, who helped broaden the reach of science to millions of people, once described his enthusiasm for discovery in very simple terms. He said, "Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."