Artemis II astronauts are set to receive America's highest spaceflight honour on August 28

The four astronauts who flew NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon are set to receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, one of the highest distinctions the United States awards for achievements in human spaceflight. According to NASA, President Donald J. Trump will present the medal to NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, during a ceremony at 11 a.m. EDT on Friday, August 28, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The honour comes after the crew completed a roughly 10-day mission that launched in April 2026 and carried them around the Moon before returning safely to Earth. Artemis II marked the first crewed mission to travel beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo era and sent humans farther from Earth than any previous crewed mission, making it a major milestone in NASA's return to deep-space exploration.Why Artemis II was such a significant missionArtemis II was the first crewed flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and the first crewed mission in more than 50 years to travel beyond low Earth orbit. Wiseman served as commander, Glover as pilot, while Koch and Hansen served as mission specialists. The crew travelled around the Moon before returning to Earth, putting Orion's life-support systems, navigation, communications and other technologies through their first major crewed test in deep space. Hansen's participation also gave the mission an international significance. He became the first Canadian to travel to the Moon and the first non-American astronaut to fly on a mission to the lunar region. The mission concluded with the crew's splashdown on April 10, 2026, after roughly 10 days in space.Why so few astronauts have received the Congressional Space Medal of HonourThe Congressional Space Medal of Honour is awarded to astronauts whose achievements have made an exceptional contribution to the welfare of the nation and humanity. It is separate from NASA's own Distinguished Service Medal and is among the rarest major American honours specifically associated with human spaceflight. According to CBS News, only 30 astronauts had received the Congressional Space Medal of Honour before the Artemis II crew were selected as recipients. Previous honourees include some of the most famous names in American space exploration, including Neil Armstrong and John Glenn. The medal's rarity reflects the standard required for receiving it. It is not simply an award for completing a successful mission, but recognition reserved for extraordinary achievements and contributions to space exploration. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is also expected to attend the August 28 ceremony alongside Trump and the Artemis II astronauts.What Artemis II proved for NASA's return to the MoonArtemis II was designed as a test of the systems and procedures NASA will need for later crewed lunar missions. Unlike Artemis I, which sent an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the Moon in 2022, Artemis II carried people into deep space for the first time under the Artemis program The mission therefore provided NASA with experience operating a crewed spacecraft far beyond low Earth orbit, while also allowing astronauts to evaluate conditions that cannot be fully reproduced on Earth. The flight is part of NASA's wider Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface and establish a longer-term human presence around and on the Moon. NASA also views the lunar program as preparation for eventual human missions to Mars. For the Artemis II crew, the August 28 ceremony will mark the formal recognition of a mission that reopened a chapter in human exploration that had been closed since the final Apollo flights more than half a century ago.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.