President Trump gives Artemis II moon astronauts the Congressional Space Medal of Honor

Four astronauts will receive the United States' highest space honor today (Aug.

28), and you can watch it live.

President Donald Trump will give the astronauts of NASA's Artemis II moon mission the Congressional Space Medal of Honor today, during a ceremony at Johnson Space Center in Houston that starts at 11:00 a.m.

EDT (1500 GMT).

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will also participate in the event.

You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA.

The Artemis II astronauts pose with their zero-gravity indicator, named Rise, before the April 1, 2026 launch of their historic moon mission.

From left: Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch. (Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett) Artemis II launched on April 1 and came back to Earth nine days later.

It was the first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis program , which aims to establish a long-term base near the moon's south pole in the coming years.

The flight sent four people — NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — on a looping journey around the lunar far side.

It was the first crewed trip beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, and its astronauts got farther from their home planet than any people ever had before.

Artemis II engaged folks around the world thanks to its importance, its historic nature and the charisma of its astronauts.

And some fortuitous orbital dynamics didn't hurt, either: The Artemis II crew were lucky enough to observe a total solar eclipse from beyond the moon , something human eyes had never seen firsthand before.

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor is awarded "to any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionalIy meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and of mankind," NASA wrote in a description of the award , citing Congress' stated criteria.