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The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
in 1969 to recognize "any
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
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". It is awarded by the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...
in Congress's name on recommendations from the
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the highest-ranking official of NASA, the national space agency of the United States. The administrator is NASA's chief decision maker, responsible for providing clarity t ...
. The award is a separate decoration from the
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of val ...
, 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 non-military decoration for display on U.S. military uniforms because it is awarded by a federal agency. In such cases, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is worn as a ribbon "immediately preceding the Prisoner of War Medal.". 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. DoDI 1348.33, Dec. 21, 2016, Change 5, Apr. 9, 2021, Sec. 11(a) 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 US space mission. , all 17 astronauts killed on US missions had been awarded the medal. President George W. Bush awarded the most CSMOH, 16 (14 of them posthumous for the two destroyed space shuttle flights). The 16-year hiatus ongoing since April 2006 is the longest gap between awards. U.S. President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
– 6 presentations U.S. President
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
– 1 presentation U.S. President George H. W. Bush – 1 presentation U.S. President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
– 4 presentations U.S. President George W. Bush – 16 presentations


Recipients

So far, 28 astronauts have been honored with the award, 17 of which were awarded posthumously for those who died in American spaceflight. Three died in the
Apollo 1 Apollo 1, initially designated AS-204, was intended to be the first crewed mission of the Apollo program, the American undertaking to land the first man on the Moon. It was planned to launch on February 21, 1967, as the first low Earth orbit ...
fire, seven died in the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster, and seven in the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster. An asterisk indicates a posthumous award. 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 NASA Astronaut Group 8 was a group of 35 astronauts announced on January 16, 1978. It was the first NASA selection since Group 6 in 1967, and was the largest group to that date. The class was the first to include female and minority astrona ...
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). As of 2022, six recipients are living, four over 80 years old. Frank Borman is the last remaining of the first six recipients of the CSMOH in 1978.


See also

*
Awards and decorations of the United States government Awards and decorations of the United States government are Civil awards and decorations, civilian awards of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government which are typically issued for sustained meritorious service, in a civ ...


References

{{Use American English, date=January 2014 Awards and decorations of NASA Awards established in 1969