President Trump to Present Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II Crew
Four astronauts from NASA's Artemis II mission will receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor at a ceremony in Houston on Aug. 28, recognizing their record-breaking lunar flyby.
President Donald Trump will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen at a ceremony on Aug. 28 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The award follows the crew’s historic Artemis II flight, the first crewed Orion mission and the first human trip around the Moon in more than 50 years. During the nearly ten-day mission, the astronauts traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, and covered a total of 695,081 miles. The launch took place on April 1 on a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center, and the spacecraft passed within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface on April 6 before returning to Earth on April 10, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said the crew “accepted significant risk” while testing Orion’s systems, which are intended for future deep-space missions. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor, authorized by Congress in 1969, has been awarded to a limited number of astronauts; the Artemis II crew will increase the total recipients to 34. NASA plans further Artemis missions, including a lunar landing attempt with Artemis IV slated for 2028.
"The NASA leadership team was in Mission Control, alongside the flight control team, watching as the Artemis II crew crossed that historic threshold and became the explorers that ventured farthest from Earth," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement. "Certainly, the astronauts were aware and monitoring their spacecraft systems. Under President Trump’s leadership, Artemis II captivated the world, inspired a generation, and gave us the confidence to press on as America returns to the Moon to build a base and to stay. Artemis III is the next mission up in that campaign, but it will be in 2028 during Artemis IV, when NASA astronauts will once again walk on the Moon," Isaacman added.