Donald Trump Honors Artemis II Crew, Announces Plans for New U.S. Space Academy [WATCH]

President Donald Trump awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to all four members of NASA’s Artemis II crew during a ceremony Friday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, while also signing an executive order aimed at establishing a new United States Space Academy.

As Houston Public Media reported, the four astronauts honored were NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor is among the highest distinctions given to NASA astronauts.

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Trump described the astronauts as leaders for a new generation of space exploration and said their work would help inspire future astronauts and pioneers.

“We have to honor the heroes who are inspiring the next generation of astronauts and pioneers and the people behind me,” Trump said during the ceremony, standing before NASA’s astronaut corps at Johnson Space Center.

The awards recognize the Artemis II crew following their historic mission around the Moon and back in April. Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen became the first humans to travel into lunar territory since the 1970s.

Trump had previously welcomed the crew to the White House following their mission. He also spoke with the astronauts by phone while they were carrying out their mission, when they were tens of thousands of miles away.

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Wiseman recalled that conversation during Friday’s ceremony.

“The one thing that really sticks out to us [from that call] is you said how proud you are and how proud our nation is for the job that we’ve just accomplished,” Wiseman said.

“And for us, that is what we set out to do. We wanted to inspire this nation to learn.”

The ceremony also marked the signing of an executive order creating the “United States Space Academy.”

Under the order, a Presidential Commission on the U.S. Space Academy will have 120 days to produce a report outlining guidelines for establishing the academy.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will serve as chair of the commission.

Other members will include NASA and space officials, along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Trump Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Michael Kratsios, assistant to the president for science and technology.

Trump said the academy is intended to serve multiple parts of the nation’s space sector, including the U.S. Space Force, NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry.

“It will serve both the United States Space Force as well as NASA and the civilian spaceflight industry,” Trump said.

“And it will attract, train, graduate the very best that our nation and our nation really has to offer.”

The commission will have several issues to resolve before the academy can begin operating. Among them are the location of the institution, its governing structure, curriculum, applicant requirements and service obligations for graduates.

The commission will also determine the circumstances under which graduates would fulfill any required service and establish when the academy should begin operations.

Trump said a decision on the location could come soon, although he did not identify a specific site during Friday’s ceremony.

He said he was “going to be choosing a location very shortly. I know where some people want it that are in this room.”

Trump compared the proposed institution to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He also emphasized that he wants the academy’s physical design to be notable.

Trump said the architecture will be “beautiful” and described the institution as something intended to operate at the highest level.

“It’s going to be at the top, it’s going to be as good as it can get,” he said.

“You know, doing a bad building doesn’t cost a lot less than doing a great building, I’ve always said. Doing great architecture, doing something really great that’s also practical, doesn’t cost much more than doing some of the bad stuff that you see all over the place. We’re going to make this so good and so exciting.”

Isaacman also outlined the administration’s broader ambitions for America’s space program in a statement released by NASA.

“President Trump’s vision for a new academy is a transformational step to educate the engineers, scientists, technicians, operators and even the astronauts who will be necessary for the inspiring future we are pursuing in space,” Isaacman said.

“In the years ahead, we will return NASA astronauts to the lunar surface, build the moon base, get underway on nuclear power, ignite the orbital economy and launch more missions of science and discovery. I have no doubt that so much of the future talent that will graduate and contribute to these exciting endeavors will be educated at the United States Space Academy.”

The proposed academy would therefore have a broader purpose than astronaut training alone, with the commission tasked with developing a framework for educating personnel needed throughout the country’s expanding space operations.

Friday’s ceremony combined recognition of the Artemis II crew with the administration’s plans for the next generation of American space professionals, putting NASA’s Houston center at the center of Trump’s space agenda.

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