Congressional Space Medal of Honor

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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." It is awarded by the President on recommendations from the NASA Administrator. 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 actual space flight under the authority of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. 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 died in the line of duty while performing a United States space mission.

[edit] Recipients

As of 2006, 28 astronauts have been honored with the award, which is presented by the President of the United States in Congress's name.

Date	Name (^†posthumous)	Awarded by	Notes
1978-10-01 October 1, 1978	Arm Neil Armstrong	Jimmy Carter	Apollo 11 (first lunar landing, Commander)
1978-10-01 October 1, 1978	Bor Frank Borman	Jimmy Carter	Apollo 8 (first lunar orbit, Commander)
1978-10-01 October 1, 1978	Con Charles "Pete" Conrad	Jimmy Carter	Skylab (first Commander)
1978-10-01 October 1, 1978	Gle John Glenn	Jimmy Carter	Mercury-Atlas 6 (first American in orbit)
1978-10-01 October 1, 1978	Gri Virgil "Gus" Grissom^†	Jimmy Carter	Apollo 1 and Gemini 3 (Commander)
1978-10-01 October 1, 1978	Shepa Alan Shepard	Jimmy Carter	Mercury-Redstone 3 (first American in space)
1981-05-19 May 19, 1981	You John W. Young	Ronald Reagan	STS-1 (first shuttle flight, Commander)
1993-01-19 January 19, 1993	Sta Thomas P. Stafford	George H. W. Bush	Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (U.S. Commander)
1995-07-26 July 26, 1995	Lov James Lovell	Bill Clinton	Apollo 13 (Commander)
1996-12-02 December 2, 1996	Luc Shannon Lucid	Bill Clinton	Longest female spaceflight (passed by Sunita Williams)
1997-12-17 December 17, 1997	Cha Roger Chaffee^†	Bill Clinton	Apollo 1
1997-12-17 December 17, 1997	Whi Edward White^†	Bill Clinton	Apollo 1 and Gemini 4 (first U.S. space walk)
2003-01-15 January 15, 2003	Sheph William Shepherd	George W. Bush	Expedition 1 (first ISS Commander)
2004-02-03 February 3, 2004	Sco Dick Scobee^†	George W. Bush	STS-51-L (Challenger, Commander)
2004-02-03 February 3, 2004	Smi Michael Smith^†	George W. Bush	STS-51-L (Challenger)
2004-02-03 February 3, 2004	Res Judith Resnik^†	George W. Bush	STS-51-L (Challenger)
2004-02-03 February 3, 2004	Oni Ellison Onizuka^†	George W. Bush	STS-51-L (Challenger)
2004-02-03 February 3, 2004	McN Ronald McNair^†	George W. Bush	STS-51-L (Challenger)
2004-02-03 February 3, 2004	Jar Greg Jarvis^†	George W. Bush	STS-51-L (Challenger)
2004-02-03 February 3, 2004	McA Christa McAuliffe^†	George W. Bush	STS-51-L (Challenger, teacher)
2004-07-23 July 23, 2004	Hus Rick Husband^†	George W. Bush	STS-107 (Columbia, Commander)
2004-07-23 July 23, 2004	McC Willie McCool^†	George W. Bush	STS-107 (Columbia)
2004-07-23 July 23, 2004	And Michael P. Anderson^†	George W. Bush	STS-107 (Columbia)
2004-07-23 July 23, 2004	Cha Kalpana Chawla^†	George W. Bush	STS-107 (Columbia)
2004-07-23 July 23, 2004	Bro David M. Brown^†	George W. Bush	STS-107 (Columbia)
2004-07-23 July 23, 2004	Cla Laurel B. Clark^†	George W. Bush	STS-107 (Columbia)
2004-07-23 July 23, 2004	Ram Ilan Ramon^†	George W. Bush	STS-107 (Columbia, first non-U.S. citizen recipient)
2006-04-26 April 26, 2006	Cri Robert Crippen	George W. Bush	STS-1 (first shuttle flight, Pilot)