Update: Trump Awards Artemis II Crew the Congressional Space Medal of Honor

President Donald Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on August 28, 2026, at Johnson Space Center in Houston, recognizing their April mission that traveled farther into deep space than any humans before them, NASA said.

The award, authorized by Congress in 1969, goes to astronauts who have "distinguished themselves by exceptionally brave and meritorious efforts, and contributions to the welfare of the nation and humanity," according to NASA. The Artemis II crew are among 34 total recipients since the start of the space program, NASA said, a list that includes the crews of Apollo 1, Challenger, and Columbia, honored posthumously. Trump personally placed the medal around the neck of each astronaut during the ceremony. Wiseman said the four medals represent not personal pride but the grit of their families, the NASA team, and the international community that supported the mission. At the ceremony's close, the crew presented Trump with a NASA blue flight jacket, a promise they had made during an earlier Oval Office visit, according to accounts of the event.

The mission flew within 4,067 miles (6,545 kilometers) of the lunar surface, according to accounts of the event, and the data gathered is intended to support NASA's goal of returning astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2028. SpaceDew covered the crew's September 1 visit to NASA Marshall, where they thanked the workforce behind the mission, at spacedew.com.

Trump also signed an executive order at the ceremony establishing a U.S. Space Academy, intended to serve the Space Force, NASA, and the civilian spaceflight industry, according to accounts of the event. A location had not been chosen as of the ceremony date. The Artemis III docking rehearsal in Earth orbit is planned for next year, according to accounts of the event, with Artemis IV's lunar south pole landing targeted no earlier than 2028.

Stay curious. Find more at spacedew.com and @boggleriley on X