President Trump to award Artemis II crew the Congressional Space Medal of Honor

Key Points:

• President Donald Trump will award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen for their historic Artemis II mission around the moon.
• The Artemis II crew traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, breaking the human spaceflight distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970, and completed a nearly 10-day mission that included a close lunar flyby and extensive scientific observations.
• The Congressional Space Medal of Honor, established in 1969, is awarded by the president to astronauts who demonstrate exceptionally meritorious contributions to the nation and mankind; only 30 astronauts have received it previously.
• Artemis II served as a critical test for NASA's Orion spacecraft and life-support systems, paving the way for future missions including Artemis III in 2027 and Artemis IV in 2028, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface.
• NASA's Artemis program ultimately seeks to establish a sustainable human presence on the moon and prepare for crewed missions to Mars, with Artemis II inspiring confidence in America's renewed lunar exploration efforts.