Congressional Space Medal of Honor
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 2004, all 17 astronauts killed on US missions have been awarded the medal.
Recipients
As of 2014, 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. An asterisk indicates a posthumous award.
Photo | Name | Date | Awarded by | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Armstrong, NeilNeil Armstrong | October 1, 1978 | Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter | Apollo 11 (Commander of the first lunar landing, first man to walk on the Moon) | [1] | |
Borman, FrankFrank Borman | October 1, 1978 | Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter | Apollo 8 (Commander of the first lunar orbit) | [1] | |
Conrad, PetePete Conrad | October 1, 1978 | Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter | Skylab 2 (first Skylab Commander; responsible for salvaging the critically malfunctioning station) | [1] | |
Glenn, JohnJohn Glenn | October 1, 1978 | Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter | Mercury-Atlas 6 (first American in orbit) | [1] | |
Grissom, GusGus Grissom* | October 1, 1978 | Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter | Apollo 1, Gemini 3 and Mercury-Redstone 4 (Commander of the first manned Gemini); died aboard Apollo 1 | [1] | |
Shepard, AlanAlan Shepard | October 1, 1978 | Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter | Mercury-Redstone 3 (first American in space) | [1] | |
Young, JohnJohn Young | May 19, 1981 | Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan | STS-1 (Commander of the first shuttle flight) | [1] | |
Stafford, Thomas P.Thomas P. Stafford | January 19, 1993 | Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush | Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (U.S. Commander) | [1] | |
Lovell, JimJim Lovell | July 26, 1995 | Clinton, BillBill Clinton | Apollo 13 (Commander of the ill-fated mission) | [1] | |
Lucid, ShannonShannon Lucid | December 2, 1996 | Clinton, BillBill Clinton | Longest female spaceflight (passed by Sunita Williams) | [1] | |
Chaffee, RogerRoger Chaffee* | December 17, 1997 | Clinton, BillBill Clinton | Died aboard Apollo 1 | [1] | |
White, EdwardEdward White* | December 17, 1997 | Clinton, BillBill Clinton | Apollo 1 and Gemini 4 (first U.S. space walk); died aboard Apollo 1 | [1] | |
Shepherd, WilliamWilliam Shepherd | January 15, 2003 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | Expedition 1 (first ISS Commander) | [1] | |
Husband, RickRick Husband* | February 3, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
McCool, WillieWillie McCool* | February 3, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
Anderson, Michael P.Michael P. Anderson* | February 3, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
Chawla, KalpanaKalpana Chawla* | February 3, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
Brown, David M.David M. Brown* | February 3, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
Clark, Laurel B.Laurel B. Clark* | February 3, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia) | [1] | |
Ramon, IlanIlan Ramon* | February 3, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-107 (died aboard Columbia, only non-U.S. citizen recipient) | [1] | |
Scobee, DickDick Scobee* | July 23, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
Smith, Michael J.Michael J. Smith* | July 23, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
Resnik, JudithJudith Resnik* | July 23, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
McNair, RonaldRonald McNair* | July 23, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
Onizuka, EllisonEllison Onizuka* | July 23, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
Jarvis, GregoryGregory Jarvis* | July 23, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger) | [1] | |
McAuliffe, ChristaChrista McAuliffe* | July 23, 2004 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-51-L (died aboard Challenger, teacher) | [1] | |
Crippen, RobertRobert Crippen | April 26, 2006 | Bush, George W.George W. Bush | STS-1 (first shuttle flight, Pilot) | [1] |
See also
- Awards and decorations of the United States government
- Category:Recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor