The crew of NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar voyage in more than half a century, will receive the United States' highest space honor. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are set to be awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on August 28, NASA officials announced.
The four astronauts completed a historic flyby of the Moon in 2026, traveling farther from Earth than any humans before them. Their journey broke the previous distance record set during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, when the crew reached approximately 400,171 kilometers from Earth. The Artemis II crew exceeded that mark during their roughly ten-day mission, which also served as a critical test of the Orion spacecraft and its life-support systems for future lunar landings.
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was established by Congress in 1969 to recognize astronauts who distinguish themselves by exceptionally meritorious efforts in the furtherance of human spaceflight. The medal has been awarded only a handful of times since its creation, making the recognition particularly significant. Previous recipients include Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, John Glenn, and the crews of the first Space Shuttle missions.
Wiseman, a veteran Navy test pilot and former chief of the NASA Astronaut Office, commanded the Artemis II mission. Glover, a Navy aviator and the first Black astronaut to serve on a lunar mission, piloted the Orion spacecraft. Koch, an electrical engineer who previously held the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, served as mission specialist. Hansen, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut and former fighter pilot, became the first non-American to travel to the Moon on the mission.
The Artemis II flight was the second mission in NASA's Artemis program, following the uncrewed Artemis I test flight in late 2022. The mission validated the Orion capsule's deep-space capabilities, including its navigation systems, radiation shielding, and the performance of its European-built service module. The successful flyby paved the way for Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole, a region believed to contain water ice that could support future exploration.
The award ceremony will take place at the White House, with President Donald Trump presenting the medals. The announcement comes as NASA continues to develop the Space Launch System rocket and ground infrastructure needed for sustained lunar exploration under the Artemis program. The agency has stated that Artemis missions are intended to establish a long-term human presence on and around the Moon, with an eventual goal of crewed missions to Mars.
The Artemis II crew's achievement has been widely celebrated as a milestone in international space cooperation, particularly given Hansen's participation as a representative of Canada. The mission also marked the first time a woman and a person of color traveled beyond low Earth orbit, reflecting NASA's stated commitment to diversity in its astronaut corps. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor award underscores the significance of the crew's accomplishment in advancing human deep-space exploration.
