Trump to Present Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II Crew

President Trump is set to award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four members of NASA's Artemis II mission during a ceremony scheduled for Aug. 28 at Joint Reserve Base Ellington in Houston. The recipients—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—completed a ten-day flight that marked the first human trip around the moon in more than half a century, concluding with a safe splashdown on April 10.

The medal, though named for Congress, is bestowed by the president following a recommendation from the NASA administrator. To date, only thirty astronauts have earned the distinction, a list that includes historic figures such as Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. Posthumous awards have been given to astronauts who perished in the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia tragedies. The most recent living recipients before this ceremony were Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, honored in 2023.