Congressional Space Medal of Honor

thumb|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". 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.

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. , 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 ( 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.

{| class="sortable wikitable"

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Photo

! scope="col"| Name

! scope="col"| Date

! scope="col"| Awarded by

! scope="col"| Notes

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Ref(s)

| 100px|Neil Armstrong

| (1930–2012)

| Apollo 11 (Commander of the first lunar landing, first man to walk on the Moon)

| 100px|Frank Borman

| (1928–2023)

| Apollo 8 (Commander of the first lunar orbit)

| 100px|Pete Conrad

| (1930–1999)

| Skylab 2 (first Skylab Commander; responsible for salvaging the critically malfunctioning station)

| 100px|John Glenn

| (1921–2016)

| Mercury-Atlas 6 (first American in orbit)

| 100px|Gus Grissom

| * (1926–1967)

| Mercury-Redstone 4, Gemini 3 (spacecraft commander of the first manned Gemini mission), Apollo 1 (spacecraft commander); died aboard Apollo 1

| 100px|Alan Shepard

| (1923–1998)

| Mercury-Redstone 3 (first American in space)

| 100px|John Young

| (1930–2018)

| Commander of STS-1, the first Space Shuttle mission

| 100px|Thomas Stafford

| (1930–2024)

| Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (U.S. Commander)

| 100px|James Lovell

| (1928–2025)

| Apollo 13 (Commander of the ill-fated mission)

| 100px|Shannon Lucid

| (1943–)

| Longest female spaceflight (passed by Sunita Williams)

| 100px|Roger Chaffee

| * (1935–1967)

| Died aboard Apollo 1

| 100px|Edward White

| * (1930–1967)

| Gemini 4 (first U.S. space walk) and Apollo 1; died aboard Apollo 1

| 100px|Rick Husband

| * (1957–2003)

| STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)

| 100px|Willie McCool

| * (1961–2003)

| STS-107 (died aboard Columbia)

| 100px|Dick Schobee

| * (1939–1986)

| STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)

| 100px|Michael Smith

| * (1945–1986)

| STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger)

| 100px|Doug Hurley

| (1966–)

| Crew Dragon Demo-2 (first Astronaut crew into orbit aboard commercial vehicle, Commander)

| 100px|Bob Behnken

| (1970–)

| Crew Dragon Demo-2 (first Astronaut crew into orbit aboard commercial vehicle, Pilot)