Artemis II crew to be awarded top US space medal
Nasa says the Artemis II lunar flyby crew will receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on 28 August, an award only 30 astronauts have ever earned.
Nasa has announced that the crew of the Artemis II lunar flyby mission — commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — will receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on 28 August, the highest space-related honor given in the United States.
According to Nasa's website, only 30 astronauts have received this medal to date, including Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, and John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, who later served four terms in the US Senate.
Despite its name, the decision on the award was made by President Donald Trump, following a recommendation from Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman.
A record surpassed
During their 10-day mission, which began on 1 April, the Artemis II crew broke Apollo 13's record for the farthest distance travelled from Earth, reaching 252,756 miles (406,771km) as they swung around the moon, surpassing the 1970 record of 248,655 miles. The mission is part of US plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface and eventually reach Mars.
After the mission ended with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, Wiseman told reporters the journey had not been easy, but that being human and being on Earth felt special.
The medal ceremony will take place at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, four months after Trump hosted the crew at the White House. The event is scheduled to begin at 11am, with a live stream available on Nasa's website.
Trump has embraced the Artemis II crew's achievements even as his administration has proposed cutting Nasa's budget by 23% for the 2027 fiscal year, including a 46% reduction for space science programmes. A Republican-led House subcommittee has instead advanced its own budget proposal that would preserve those science projects.
The last astronauts to receive the medal before the Artemis II crew were Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken, who in 2020 became the first to launch into orbit aboard a commercial spacecraft. They received the honor in 2023, during Joe Biden's presidency.
