Houston, Texas – President Donald Trump gathered at NASA’s Johnson Space Center on Friday to recognize the historic Artemis II mission. The president presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four crew members who completed the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Christina Koch and Canadian partner Jeremy Hansen received the medal in front of NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman and other dignitaries. The crew’s April flight around the moon set a new distance record for humanity, traveling within 4,067 miles (6,545 km) of the lunar surface aboard NASA’s new Orion capsule launched on the powerful SLS rocket.
President Trump announces a U.S. Space Academy
During the ceremony, President Trump used the occasion to unveil a proposal for a U.S. Space Academy that would fall under the U.S. Space Force, with the goal of training the next generation of military and civilian space professionals. While the academy’s location has not yet been decided, the president emphasized that the initiative will strengthen America’s leadership in space and support the commercial space sector.
“Space is the hot thing,” Trump told the audience, adding that the academy will help keep the United States at the forefront of exploration and innovation.
Looking ahead to Artemis III and beyond
The Artemis II crew’s successful lunar flyby paves the way for next year’s Artemis III mission, which will attempt the first crewed landing on the moon since Apollo 17. Artemis IV, slated for as early as 2028, aims to land two astronauts near the lunar south pole, a region believed to contain water ice that could be turned into rocket fuel and drinking water.
President Trump pledged that Americans will return to the moon before the end of his term and hinted that a crewed mission to Mars could follow “very shortly.”
Historical context
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor has been awarded to only 30 astronauts since its creation in 1969. Past recipients include Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong, the first Americans in space and orbit, and the 2020 SpaceX crew members Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, who were honored by President Joe Biden in 2023.
Veteran astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the last Apollo moonwalker, attended the ceremony and noted that the upcoming Artemis missions will surpass the achievements of the Apollo program.
After the ceremony, the Artemis II astronauts presented President Trump with a custom blue flight jacket featuring space patches, a token of gratitude for the support they received during their mission.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
