Turns out, flying around the moon just to prove you can still do it is a pretty big deal. Big enough, in fact, to earn the Artemis II crew the Congressional Space Medal of Honor — the highest space medal the U.S. can bestow. Come August 28, Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will join an exclusive club of just 30 astronauts, including legends like Neil Armstrong and John Glenn.
But wait, there's more than just fancy hardware. The Artemis II crew also quietly shattered a record set by Apollo 13, traveling an astonishing 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth. That's nearly 4,000 miles further than Apollo 13's 1970 record. All this during their 10-day mission, which, if you recall, kicked off on April 1. Because why not break records while also setting the stage for humanity's next giant leap to the moon and, eventually, Mars?
Oh, and Jeremy Hansen, our Canadian hero, also became the first non-U.S. citizen to fly to the moon. Because apparently that's where we are now: international lunar flybys and new distance records. Wiseman, after their safe splashdown in the Pacific, admitted the mission wasn't exactly a walk in the park. He spoke about the very human desire to just get back to family and friends, even from the cosmic depths.
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Start Your News DetoxThe Medal and the Man
The medal ceremony will unfold at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a mere four months after former President Trump hosted the crew at the White House. Trump, who recently hit 80, even quipped to the astronauts that he "would have had no trouble making it" to space himself. Because of course he did. He's also the one who selected them for this honor, following a recommendation from NASA administrator Jared Isaacman.
It's a curious turn of events, given Trump's administration previously proposed a rather significant 23% cut to NASA's budget for fiscal year 2027, including a hefty 46% slice from space science. Thankfully, a House subcommittee, led by his own party, has proposed keeping those science projects funded. Because even if you want to cut budgets, some achievements are just too shiny to ignore.
The Artemis II crew now stands among a pantheon of space heroes, including those who tragically perished in the Apollo I fire and the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters. The last recipients before them were Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken in 2023, honored for being the first to launch into orbit on a commercial spacecraft in 2020. So, if you're looking for a reason to feel a little more optimistic about humanity's reach, this just might be it.
