WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee (CST) on Aviation, Space and Innovation—joined U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and a bipartisan, bicameral group of Congressional colleagues in introducing the Artemis II Congressional Gold Medal Act to honor the four crewmembers of the historic Artemis II mission around the Moon. On April 1st, 2026, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen embarked on a historic 9-day mission as the first crewed Artemis flight, moving our nation closer to returning to the Moon and future missions to Mars. The four astronauts flew farther from Earth than any humans in history.
“The brave Artemis II crew broke new frontiers for space exploration and proved to the next generation of young scientists that anything is possible,” said Duckworth. “Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen and everyone behind the scenes at NASA that made this incredible mission possible deserve the highest praise, and I’m glad to join my colleagues in this push to honor their achievement.”
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“Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy carried human space exploration farther than it has ever gone before,” said Kelly. “I’ve flown on four missions to space and I know how hard that crew and the teams on the ground worked. They made something incredibly complex and difficult look easy. They reminded Americans what we’re capable of when we work together. They inspired the next generation of scientists, explorers, and engineers. For pushing the boundaries of human achievement, the Artemis II crew deserves this honor.”
Along with Duckworth and Kelly, the legislation is cosponsored in the Senate by U.S. Senators Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT).
The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the highest civilian honors awarded by Congress. Since the American Revolution, Congress has used the medal to recognize individuals and groups whose achievements have had a lasting impact on American history and national life.
The last astronauts to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal were the Apollo 11 Crew were in 2009. No other NASA mission crew has received the honor, reserving it for missions of extraordinary historic significance.
Full text of the legislation is available on Senator Duckworth’s website.
