President Trump Awards Congressional Space Medal of Honor to Artemis II Crew in Houston
President Trump awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Houston, TX, August 28, 2026 — President Donald Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission during a ceremony held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The award recognizes the astronauts for their service and dedication to space exploration.
The Artemis II mission is a crewed lunar flyby, intended to be the first crewed flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and a Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The mission is designed to test Orion’s life support systems and capabilities in the environment of deep space, beyond low Earth orbit, before future missions that will land astronauts on the Moon.
The Artemis II crew consists of Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. Their selection for this mission marked significant milestones, including Glover being the first person of color to travel on a lunar mission and Koch being the first woman to travel to the Moon.
The Johnson Space Center in Houston serves as NASA’s Mission Control Center and is central to the planning, training, and execution of human spaceflight missions. The decision to host the award ceremony at this key NASA facility highlights the site’s integral role in the nation’s space program.
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor is one of the highest civilian decorations awarded by the United States government, recognizing individuals who have distinguished themselves through extraordinary achievement in space exploration.
Further details regarding the specific achievements cited for the award, or the precise date of the ceremony, were not immediately available. The context of the award within the broader timeline of the Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and prepare for eventual missions to Mars, underscores the ongoing commitment to advancing human spaceflight capabilities.
Story summarized from the original created by Terrian.Spurs@fox.com (Terrian Spurs) on www.fox26houston.com, see more information here.
