Honor for the Artemis II Crew
On Friday, August 28, President Donald Trump will award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four astronauts who flew around the Moon on the Artemis II mission. The medal recognizes extraordinary contributions to human spaceflight and is the highest civilian space award granted by the United States.
The Artemis II mission launched in late 2024, sending the crew on a lunar flyby without landing. The flight tested the Orion spacecraft and its systems in preparation for future crewed Moon landings under the Artemis program.
- The Medal of Honor has been awarded since 1969 for exceptional achievements in space.
- Only a select group of astronauts have received it, including the crews of Apollo 11 and Apollo 13.
- The ceremony will take place at the White House, attended by congressional officials and NASA representatives.
Analysts say the award highlights both the personal courage of the astronauts and the progress of the Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and eventually enable crewed missions to Mars.