— The first astronauts to fly to the moon in more than 50 years will receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch, all of NASA, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will be presented the award by U.S. President Donald Trump and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman at Johnson Space Center in Houston on Aug. 28. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor is the United States' highest distinction reserved for spaceflight veterans.

"I think we can all agree there were no greater ambassadors to the stars than Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. From selection through splashdown, they represented NASA and their nations with extraordinary professionalism and heart," wrote Isaacman in an email to the NASA workforce on Friday (Aug. 21). "They showed the world the moon again and the impact will be felt for generations."

Despite its name, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is awarded by the President in Congress's name only, based on recommendations by the NASA Administrator. Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen will be 31st, 32nd, 33rd and 34th astronauts to be bestowed with the medal since it was first authorized by Congress in 1969.

'Exceptionally meritorious efforts'

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor is intended to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the nation and mankind." It was first given to six Mercury, Gemini and Apollo veterans in 1978.

The first honorees included Alan Shepard, the first American to fly into space; John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth; Virgil "Gus" Grissom, commander of the ill-fated Apollo 1 crew; Frank Borman, commander on Apollo 8, the first mission to orbit the moon; Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon; and Charles "Pete" Conrad, commander of the first crew to live on Skylab, the first U.S. space station.

Other recipients were James Lovell, the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission; Thomas Stafford, the American commander of the joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project; John Young and Robert Crippen, the crew of first space shuttle mission; Shannon Lucid, who set a record for the longest spaceflight by a woman aboard Russia's former space station Mir; William Shepherd, the first commander of the International Space Station; and the fallen Apollo 1, STS-51L (space shuttle Challenger) and STS-107 (Columbia) crew members, who died in 1967, 1986 and 2003, respectively.

The most recent awardees, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, were honored in 2023 for being the first NASA astronauts to launch on a commercial spacecraft.

Farthest and firsts

In addition to being the first crew to fly to the moon since the Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen set a new record for the farthest distance from Earth reached by humans. Glover and Koch were the first Black and first woman, respectively, to fly by the moon. Hansen was the first Canadian and first non-American to leave low Earth orbit.

"I do believe the crew would say this recognition belongs to every one of you as much as it does to them," wrote Isaacman in his note to NASA's employees. "It takes an army of determined talent to carry out a mission like Artemis II, and you all performed masterfully."

The Artemis II astronauts have also been put forth to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor awarded in the United States alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Artemis II Congressional Gold Medal Act was introduced in in late June and is awaiting a vote in both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.