On Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, President Donald J. Trump presided over a ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He awarded the nation’s most prestigious spaceflight honor to the four-member Artemis II crew and signed an executive order to establish the first U.S. Space Academy.

President Trump awarded the Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, honoring the first recipients since 2023.

On April 1, the historic Artemis II mission launched into space, bringing the first humans beyond low Earth orbit and around the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The mission lasted 10 days and launched on the agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

The crew is recognized for breaking a spaceflight record, traveling 252,756 miles from Earth and flying 695,081 miles in total, farther than any human before. 

“Today we’re proudly awarding the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the remarkable crew of Artemis II. These astronauts did not do it alone,” said President Trump. “I want to salute all of the engineers, scientists, launch and landing specialists, everyone at NASA who helped make this mission a great success.”

Established by Congress in 1969, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor recognizes “…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.”

President Trump also signed an executive order to establish the nation’s first United States Space Academy during his Friday visit to NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The proposed U.S. Space Academy will serve as the hub for the development of the next generation of space leaders and will strengthen the nation’s space-related workforce by educating engineers, scientists, technicians, operators, and astronauts.

“Given the rapid growth of the U.S. Space Force and commercial space industry, and the expansion of our ambitions to the Moon and far beyond the Moon,” said President Trump. “It’s clear we will need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers, and civil operators.”

The full details and plans of the U.S Space Academy still remain in their formative stages, as a report that contains further details for the President to review regarding the executive order is due within 120 days of the signing. The report will include recommendations on the academy’s governance structure, service obligations for graduates, physical location, legislative requirements, and other details.

If a location set near Johnson Space Center in the Clear Lake community were proposed, it could have an impact on citizens of the area. Potentially creating multiple career and educational opportunities for students of the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

To watch the full ceremony on the PBS News website, click here.