Artemis II crew to receive US Congressional Space Medal of Honor

The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission will receive the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, the highest US space distinction, on August 28 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. President Donald Trump will present the award, which has been given to only 30 astronauts, including Neil Armstrong and John Glenn Source: elespanol, elcaribedr. The crew—NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen—set a record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth during their 10-day mission in April, reaching 406,771 kilometers (252,756 miles), surpassing the Apollo 13 record Source: elespanol. They were the first to fly aboard the Orion spacecraft and the first to pass the Moon in over half a century Source: infobae. Hansen is the first non-American citizen to fly to the Moon Source: elespanol. The ceremony will also honor astronauts who died in the Apollo 1 fire and the Challenger and Columbia shuttle explosions Source: elespanol. Notably, the award comes despite the Trump administration's proposal to cut NASA's budget by 23%, including a 46% reduction for space science Source: elespanol. The Congressional Space Medal was created in 1969 and is presented by the president on behalf of Congress, at NASA's recommendation Source: elcaribedr.