Trump to honor Artemis II astronauts with Congressional Space Medal

President Donald Trump will award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II astronauts.

The awards will be presented to Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen during a ceremony at Johnson Space Center. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is also expected to attend.

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The astronauts completed a 10-day mission around the moon in April, becoming the first crew in more than 50 years to travel that far into deep space, according to NASA.

Thanks to President Trumps leadership, America is leading the world in space exploration, White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said.

The astronauts were celebrated in the Oval Office shortly after completing the mission.

During his second term, Trump has sought to apply his America First approach to space policy.

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Days before the ceremony, Trump signed a national security memorandum aimed at reinvigorating Americas leadership in space transportation and enabling more than 1,000 launches and reentries on American soil annually by 2030.

According to the White House, the directive seeks to encourage public-private partnerships, speed permitting and environmental reviews, expand launch and reentry sites, support commercial transportation to the moon and explore sending humans to Mars.