Congressional Space Medal of Honor

File:Armstrong Awarded Space Medal of Honor - GPN-2000-001863.jpg

Neil Armstrong being awarded the first medal by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, with subsequent recipients Borman and Conrad seated.

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind".<ref name="nasa_list"/> It is awarded by the president of the United States in Congress's name on recommendations from the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The award is a separate decoration from the Medal of Honor, which is a military award for extreme bravery and gallantry in combat.

While the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is a civilian award of the United States government, it is authorized as a non-military decoration for display on U.S. military uniforms because it is awarded by a federal agency. In such cases, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is worn as a ribbon "immediately preceding the Prisoner of War Medal".<ref> DoDI 1348.33, Dec. 21, 2016, Change 5, Apr. 9, 2021, Sec. 11: https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/134833p.pdf </ref> DoD policy specifically prohibits wear of any non-military awards for valor or service, but the Congressional Space Medal of Honor only recognizes meritorious achievement, so it does not fall under this prohibition.<ref> DoDI 1348.33, Dec. 21, 2016, Change 5, Apr. 9, 2021, Sec. 11(a) </ref>

To be awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor, an astronaut must perform feats of extraordinary accomplishment while participating in space flight under the authority of NASA. Typically, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is awarded for scientific discoveries or actions of tremendous benefit to mankind. The decoration may also be awarded for extreme bravery during a space emergency or in preventing a major space disaster, or posthumously to those astronauts who die while performing a U.S. space mission. Template:As of, all 17 astronauts killed on US missions had been awarded the medal.

President George W. Bush awarded the most CSMOH with 16; 14 of them posthumous for crews of the two destroyed space shuttle flights, Challenger and Columbia. President Joe Biden awarded the CSMOH to Crew Dragon Demo-2 members Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on January 31, 2023. The 16-year hiatus from April 2006 to January 2023 is the longest gap between awards.

Recipients

The medal has been awarded to 30 astronauts, of which 17 were made posthumously for those who died preparing for or during an American spaceflight. Of those 17, three died in the Apollo 1 fire, seven died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and seven in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Four of the twelve moonwalkers received the medal (Armstrong, Conrad, Shepard, and Young), but only Neil Armstrong for his lunar mission. The New Nine class of U.S. astronauts (the second group of astronauts selected by NASA) has the most recipients of the medal, with seven. Second is NASA Astronaut Group 8 which received five awards, four for astronauts killed in the Challenger Disaster (Template:Sortname is the only Group 8 astronaut to receive the award who was not killed in the Challenger Disaster).

Five recipients are living, three over 80 years old. Frank Borman was the last remaining of the first six recipients of the CSMOH in 1978.

In the table below, an asterisk indicates a posthumous award.

Photo	Name	Date	Awarded by	Notes	Ref(s)
Neil Armstrong	Template:Sortname (1930–2012)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Apollo 11 (Commander of the first lunar landing, first man to walk on the Moon)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Frank Borman	Template:Sortname (1928–2023)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Apollo 8 (Commander of the first lunar orbit)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pete Conrad	Template:Sortname (1930–1999)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Skylab 2 (first Skylab Commander; responsible for salvaging the critically malfunctioning station)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
John Glenn	Template:Sortname (1921–2016)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Mercury-Atlas 6 (first American in orbit)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Gus Grissom	Template:Sortname* (1926–1967)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Mercury-Redstone 4, Gemini 3 (spacecraft commander of the first manned Gemini mission), Apollo 1 (spacecraft commander); died aboard Apollo 1	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Alan Shepard	Template:Sortname (1923–1998)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Mercury-Redstone 3 (first American in space)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
John Young	Template:Sortname (1930–2018)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Commander of STS-1, the first Space Shuttle mission	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Thomas Stafford	Template:Sortname (1930–2024)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (U.S. Commander)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
James Lovell	Template:Sortname (1928–2025)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Apollo 13 (Commander of the ill-fated mission)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Shannon Lucid	Template:Sortname (1943–)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Longest female spaceflight (passed by Sunita Williams)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Roger Chaffee	Template:Sortname* (1935–1967)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Died aboard Apollo 1	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Edward White	Template:Sortname* (1930–1967)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Gemini 4 (first U.S. space walk) and Apollo 1; died aboard Apollo 1	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=pres />
William Shepherd	Template:Sortname (1949–)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Expedition 1 (first ISS Commander)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Rick Husband	Template:Sortname* (1957–2003)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=spacebook>Template:Cite book</ref>
Willie McCool	Template:Sortname* (1961–2003)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=spacebook />
Michael Anderson	Template:Sortname* (1959–2003)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=spacebook />
Kalpana Chawla	Template:Sortname* (1962–2003)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=spacebook />
David Brown	Template:Sortname* (1956–2003)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=spacebook />
Laurel Clark	Template:Sortname* (1961–2003)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=spacebook />
Ilan Ramon	Template:Sortname* (1954–2003)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-107 (died aboard Columbia, only non-U.S. citizen recipient)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Dick Schobee	Template:Sortname* (1939–1986)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Michael Smith	Template:Sortname* (1945–1986)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=flight />
Judith Resnik	Template:Sortname* (1949–1986)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=flight />
Ronald McNair	Template:Sortname* (1950–1986)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=flight />
Ellison Onizuka	Template:Sortname* (1946–1986)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=flight />
Greg Jarvis	Template:Sortname* (1944–1986)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=flight />
Christa McAuliffe	Template:Sortname* (1948–1986)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger, teacher)	<ref name="nasa_list" /><ref name=flight />
Robert Crippen	Template:Sortname (1937–)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	STS-1 (first Space Shuttle flight, Pilot)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Doug Hurley	Template:Sortname (1966–)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Crew Dragon Demo-2 (first Astronaut crew into orbit aboard commercial vehicle, Commander)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bob Behnken	Template:Sortname (1970–)	Template:Dts	Template:Sortname	Crew Dragon Demo-2 (first Astronaut crew into orbit aboard commercial vehicle, Pilot)	<ref name="nasa_list-2023"/>

See also

• Awards and decorations of the United States government