Former astronauts, retired airman & Marine, earn Space Medal of Honor

Two former NASA astronauts and military test pilots were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor yesterday during an event at the White House.

Robert Behnken, a retired Air Force colonel, and Douglas Hurley, a retired Marine colonel, were presented the awards by Vice President Kamala Harris.

“Bob and Doug, together, have written the first page of a new chapter in the history of American space flight,” Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, said during the ceremony.

The decorations were awarded “for bravery in NASA’s SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2 (Demo-2) to the International Space Station in 2020,” according to a NASA news release.

The pair piloted the first manned mission to the space station in nearly a decade when they launched a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to the space station on May 30, 2020. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has sent five manned missions to the space station, the most recent of which launched last October.

RELATED

Marine astronaut to lead NASA mission to International Space Station

As mission commander, Marine-turned-astronaut Col. Nicole Mann will be responsible for all phases of the flight, from launch to reentry.

By Jonathan Lehrfeld

Both former military pilots, Hurley, 56, and Behnken, 52, were selected by NASA in 2000 and announced as members of the commercial crew program in 2015. The two have each participated in three space flights, and during their extensive military careers have each flown more than 25 different types of aircraft, according to their NASA bios.

The Congressional Space Medal of Honor, created by Congress in 1969, is given “to any astronaut who in the performance of his [or her] duties has distinguished himself [or herself] by exceptionalIy meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the [n]ation and of mankind,” according to NASA. It has now been awarded to 30 people, including those who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster 20 years ago today.

The last individual to receive the prestigious honor was retired Navy Capt. Robert Crippen, who earned the medal in 2006 for piloting the first space shuttle mission.

NASA’s next crewed space flight, which will include retired Navy Capt. Stephen Bowen, is planned for Feb. 26 at the earliest, the agency said in a release.

In Other News

Rollback of DOD anti-extremism efforts coming in 2025, experts predict

The piecemeal progress of extremism-prevention efforts during the past four years is more than can be expected out of the Pentagon in 2025, experts said.

From Grinch greetings to Santa sightings, the holidays come to troops

Holiday helpers have been busy, as plenty of organizations and individuals have been working to make the days a bit brighter for troops and their families.

Will most troops move under new household goods program in 2025?

More than half of installations in the continental United States are moving troops' shipments under the new system.

VA to resume new electronic health record rollout in mid-2026

The project was scheduled to take 10 years and cost $16 billion. Nearly eight years later, only six of VA’s 170-plus medical sites are using the software.

Suicides among veterans remain unchanged despite federal focus

The figures are the latest available from federal census data and suggest limited progress on the issue of suicide prevention by Veterans Affairs leaders.

Load More