| Congressional Space Medal of Honor | |
|---|---|
Congressional Space Medal of Honor |
|
| Awarded by the United States Congress | |
| Country | United States |
| Type | Medal |
| Eligibility | NASA astronauts |
| Awarded for | "exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind" |
| Status | Active |
| Statistics | |
| Established | September 29, 1969 |
| First awarded | October 1, 1978 |
| Total awarded | 28 |
| Posthumous awards |
17 |
| Precedence | |
| Next (lower) | NASA Distinguished Service Medal |
Congressional Space Medal of Honor ribbon |
|
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 duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind." The highest award given by NASA, 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.
Although the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is a civilian award of the United States government, it is authorized as a military decoration for display on U.S. military uniforms due to the prestige of the decoration. In such cases, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is worn as a ribbon following all United States Armed Forces decorations.
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. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor may also be presented posthumously to those astronauts who die while performing a US space mission; and as of 2008, all 17 astronauts killed on US missions have been awarded the medal.
As of 2006, 28 astronauts have been honored with the award. Seventeen were honored posthumously: 14 died in either the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster or the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, and the other three died in the Apollo 1 fire. The * symbol indicates a posthumous award.
| Photo | Name | Date | Awarded by | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neil Armstrong | October 1, 1978 | Jimmy Carter | Apollo 11 (Commander of the first lunar landing, first man to walk on the moon) | [1] | |
| Frank Borman | October 1, 1978 | Jimmy Carter | Apollo 8 (Commander of the first lunar orbit) | [1] | |
| Pete Conrad | October 1, 1978 | Jimmy Carter | Skylab 2 (first Skylab Commander; responsible for salvaging the critically malfunctioning station) | [1] | |
| John Glenn | October 1, 1978 | Jimmy Carter | Mercury-Atlas 6 (first American in orbit) | [1] | |
| Gus Grissom* | October 1, 1978 | Jimmy Carter | Apollo 1, Gemini 3 and Mercury-Redstone 4 (Commander of the first manned Gemini); died aboard Apollo 1 | [1] | |
| Alan Shepard | October 1, 1978 | Jimmy Carter | Mercury-Redstone 3 (first American in space) | [1] | |
| John Young | May 19, 1981 | Ronald Reagan | STS-1 (Commander of the first shuttle flight) | [1] | |
| Thomas P. Stafford | January 19, 1993 | George H. W. Bush | Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (U.S. Commander) | [1] | |
| Jim Lovell | July 26, 1995 | Bill Clinton | Apollo 13 (Commander of the ill-fated mission) | [1] | |
| Shannon Lucid | December 2, 1996 | Bill Clinton | Longest female spaceflight (passed by Sunita Williams) | [1] | |
| Roger Chaffee* | December 17, 1997 | Bill Clinton | Died aboard Apollo 1 | [1] | |
| Edward White* | December 17, 1997 | Bill Clinton | Apollo 1 and Gemini 4 (first U.S. space walk); died aboard Apollo 1 | [1] | |
| William Shepherd | January 15, 2003 | George W. Bush | Expedition 1 (first ISS Commander) | [1] | |
| Rick D. Husband* | February 3, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
| Willie McCool* | February 3, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
| Michael P. Anderson* | February 3, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
| Kalpana Chawla* | February 3, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
| David M. Brown* | February 3, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
| Laurel B. Clark* | February 3, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
| Ilan Ramon* | February 3, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia, only non-U.S. citizen recipient) | [1] | |
| Dick Scobee* | July 23, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
| Michael J. Smith* | July 23, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
| Judith Resnik* | July 23, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
| Ronald McNair* | July 23, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
| Ellison Onizuka* | July 23, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
| Greg Jarvis* | July 23, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
| Christa McAuliffe* | July 23, 2004 | George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger, teacher) | [1] | |
| Robert Crippen | April 26, 2006 | George W. Bush | STS-1 (first shuttle flight, Pilot) | [1] |
|
||||||||