Artemis II Crew Receives Congressional Space Medal of Honor (2026-08-29)

The four Artemis II astronauts who flew around the Moon earlier this year have been awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the nation's highest space accolade. President Donald Trump presented the medals during a ceremony at Houston's Johnson Space Center, with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and other dignitaries in attendance.

The crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canada's Jeremy Hansen — became the first astronauts to travel to the Moon in over five decades. Their April flyby brought them within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface while testing NASA's new Orion capsule, setting a new distance record for humanity.

During the ceremony, President Trump announced the creation of a U.S. Space Academy for the Space Force, NASA, and the commercial space community, though a location has yet to be determined. "Space is the hot thing," he told the crowd.

The mission sets the stage for future lunar exploration, including an Artemis III docking rehearsal next year and a potential Artemis IV moon landing near the lunar south pole as soon as 2028. Trump stated that Americans will return to the Moon before his term ends, with Mars to follow.

The Artemis II crew joins an elite group of only 30 previous recipients of the honor, many of whom were recognized posthumously. Neil Armstrong was the first recipient, and the most recent were Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, honored in 2023 for their 2020 SpaceX test flight.

Dozens of astronauts attended the ceremony, including Apollo 17 moonwalker Harrison Schmitt, now 91. NASA Deputy Administrator Matthew Anderson noted, "The second space race has begun," referencing plans for a sustainable lunar base near the south pole, an area also of interest to China.

As the ceremony concluded, the crew presented President Trump with a blue flight jacket adorned with space patches, fulfilling a promise made during an earlier Oval Office visit.