President Donald Trump will present the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission during a ceremony at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on August 28. The crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, achieved a historic milestone earlier this year.
During their nearly 10-day mission aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft, the Artemis II crew became the farthest humans from Earth, reaching a distance of 252,756 miles. This surpassed the previous record set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. The astronauts traveled a total of 695,081 miles during their voyage.
The mission, which launched on April 1, marked the first crewed flight around the moon in over half a century. The Orion spacecraft tested its systems in space before heading toward the moon, passing within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface on April 6. The crew captured over 7,000 images, documenting phenomena such as earthrise, earthset, lunar craters, and a solar eclipse viewed from Orion. They also reported observing meteoroid impact flashes on the moon's night side.
Orion returned to Earth on April 10, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California after re-entering the atmosphere at approximately 25,000 mph.
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor, authorized in 1969, is awarded to astronauts who distinguish themselves through exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the nation and mankind. It has been presented to a select group of 30 astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. The Artemis II crew will bring the total number of recipients to 34.
The Artemis II mission served as a critical step towards NASA's broader lunar exploration goals, including the establishment of a permanent lunar base. Future missions, Artemis III and IV, aim to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028, laying the groundwork for potential crewed missions to Mars. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman noted that the Artemis II crew accepted significant risks in testing spacecraft systems intended for deeper space travel.