Trump awards Congressional Space Medals of Honor to NASA's Artemis II crew

President Donald Trump presented the crew of NASA's Artemis II mission on Friday with the new Congressional Space Medals of Honor at a ceremony in Houston, Texas.

The group of four astronauts, which included three NASA astronauts and one astronaut from Canada, consisted of Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.

The group blasted off on Wednesday, April 1 and returned Friday, April 10 in the first crewed journey around the moon in more than 50 years. They also traveled deeper into space than anyone else in history.

"We gather here on these storied grounds to celebrate the immense courage and service of four intrepid space heroes whose sense of daring and adventure led them further from Earth than anyone has ever traveled before," Trump said. "This [award is] a very rare thing. It's for courageous people, brilliant people, bestowed on astronauts who have distinguished themselves with exceptional service to the nation and all of mankind."

The medal, which has only been given to 30 people total, is awarded "to any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and of mankind," NASA wrote in a description of the award.

Wiseman emotionally addressed the scale of commitment that the mission took, including from their loved ones and all of NASA and the community that prepared them for the journey.

"We wear these four medals, and we are going to wear them with pride. But please know, it is not pride for ourselves that we feel," he said. "It is pride for the grit that our families had when we left this planet. It is pride for that team, this NASA team, that sent us on this mission. And it is pride for the international community that stood alongside us, got this vehicle ready, operated and cheered us on."

The awards come the same day Trump signed an executive order establishing the U.S. Space Academy, a military academy for the U.S. Space Force.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.