Vice President Kamala Harris will present the Congressional Medal of Honor for Space to two former NASA astronauts at a White House ceremony on Tuesday, according to a White House and NASA official. “Their bravery on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 (Demo-2) mission to the International Space Station in 2020,” NASA said in a press release. The ceremony will see the first Congressional Space Medal of Honor since 2006, as the pair piloted the first crewed launch of SpaceX as part of NASA’s inaugural commercial crew mission to the International Space Station in 2020—the first astronauts to launch into orbit from space. United States in nearly a decade. Five crewed missions to the International Space Station carrying 13 American astronauts and 7 international astronauts have been launched since the 2020 launch, according to the White House official. Hurley, who served in the Marine Corps, and Behnken, who served in the Air Force, were a military test. pilots before joining NASA in 2000. The space agency has a long history of selecting test pilots, who spend hundreds of hours flying an experimental hypersonic aircraft, as astronauts. The award is given “to any astronaut who has performed his duties and distinguished himself by meritorious efforts and exceptional contributions to the welfare of the nation and mankind.” It has been given to 28 people, including 17 posthumously, since it was authorized by Congress in 1969, according to the White House official. The Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Tuesday afternoon.
Vice President Kamala Harris will present the Congressional Medal of Honor for Space to two former NASA astronauts at a White House ceremony on Tuesday, according to a White House and NASA official.
The video above: Astronauts discuss the upcoming mission to the International Space Station
Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken will receive an award “for their bravery on NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 (Demo-2) mission to the International Space Station in 2020,” NASA said in a press release. The ceremony marks the first Congressional Space Medal to be awarded since 2006.
The couple experienced SpaceX’s first crewed launch as part of NASA’s inaugural commercial crew mission to the International Space Station in 2020 — the first astronauts to launch into orbit from the United States in nearly a decade. Five crewed missions to the International Space Station carrying 13 American astronauts and 7 international astronauts have been launched since the launch in 2020, according to the White House official.
Hurley, who served in the Marine Corps, and Behnken, who served in the Air Force, were both military test pilots before they joined NASA in 2000. The space agency has a long history of selecting test pilots, who spend hundreds of hours flying around. Supersonic experimental aircraft, to be astronauts.
The award is given to “any astronaut who has distinguished himself in the performance of his duties by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the nation and of mankind.” It has been given to 28 people, including 17 posthumously, since it was authorized by Congress in 1969, according to the White House official.
Harris, who chairs the National Aerospace Council as part of her portfolio, will present the award in a ceremony from the Indian Treaty Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Tuesday afternoon.