Artemis II astronauts awarded America's highest space honor
The four astronauts who flew around the moon in April received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in Houston, as President Trump also announced a new US space academy.
Four astronauts from Nasa's Artemis II mission were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the United States' top space distinction, during a ceremony at Houston's Johnson Space Center on Friday. President Donald Trump presented the medals, with Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman and other dignitaries in attendance.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen became, in April, the first crew in more than 50 years to travel toward the moon, coming within roughly 4,067 miles of its surface. The flight tested Nasa's new Orion capsule and its towering new rocket, which had only flown once before. Although the crew did not land, their mission lays the groundwork for next year's Artemis III rendezvous rehearsal in Earth orbit, with an Artemis IV lunar south pole landing possibly following as early as 2028.
During the ceremony, Trump announced the creation of a new US space academy intended to serve the space force, Nasa, and the commercial space industry, though its location has not yet been decided. The president predicted Americans would return to the moon's surface before the end of his second term, adding that a mission to Mars would follow soon after.
Since the medal was first awarded in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter — including to Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong — only 30 astronauts have received it, many posthumously. The most recent prior recipients were Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, honored in 2023 by President Joe Biden for their 2020 flight, the first crewed launch aboard a SpaceX rocket.
Dozens of astronauts attended the event, including 91-year-old Apollo 17 moonwalker Harrison Schmitt and the four astronauts assigned to the upcoming Artemis III mission. Nasa is planning a permanent base near the moon's south pole, where frozen water in shadowed craters could eventually be converted into fuel and drinking water — a region China is also targeting. Nasa's deputy administrator, Matthew Anderson, described the effort as the start of a new space race.
