SpaceX crewmates Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken awarded House Medal of Honor
The to start with NASA astronauts to start on board a commercial spacecraft have been introduced with the United States’ optimum honor reserved for spaceflight veterans.
Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, who flew on the initially crewed demonstration flight of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft in 2020, been given the Congressional House Medal of Honor from Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday (Jan. 31). Authorized by Congress in 1969, the medal is presented to astronauts who are suggested by the NASA administrator.
“On behalf of President Joe Biden, on behalf of the United States Congress and on behalf of the people today of the United States of The united states … individuals you may possibly never ever meet but who will forever be impacted for the reason that of your perform forever, it is my great honor to award you the two the Congressional Room Medal of Honor,” explained Vice President Harris.
Linked: SpaceX’s historic Demo-2 astronaut flight in photos
On Could 30, 2020, Hurley and Behnken lifted off on the Crew Dragon “Endeavour” atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy House Center in Florida. The Demo-2 (DM-2) crew’s 64-day mission to the International Room Station was the initial flight less than NASA’s Business Crew Plan and SpaceX’s very first crewed start.
The mission was also the very first human flight to depart Earth from U.S. soil due to the fact the close of the area shuttle program in 2011, and Endeavour was the first U.S. crewed spacecraft to splash down from area in the 45 decades considering the fact that the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
“Bob and Doug alongside one another have created the first website page of a new chapter in the background of American spaceflight,” claimed Harris. “By means of their ingenuity and bravery, they assisted rebuild America’s bridge to small Earth orbit and to the Worldwide House Station, where by we perform some of our most sizeable and sophisticated scientific investigate.”
Hurley and Behnken are now the 29th and 30th astronauts — out of the far more than 360 Americans who have flown into room — to be awarded the Space Medal of Honor and the to start with to acquire the difference in 17 several years. Introduced to astronauts who in the functionality of their duties distinguished on their own by “exceptionalIy meritorious endeavours and contributions to the welfare of the country and of mankind,” the medal was first bestowed in 1978 to 6 Mercury, Gemini and Apollo veterans.
Amongst individuals inaugural honorees were Alan Shepard, the 1st American to fly into space John Glenn, the initially American to orbit Earth Virgil “Gus” Grissom, commander of the unwell-fated Apollo 1 crew Frank Borman, commander on Apollo 8, the initially mission to orbit the moon Neil Armstrong, the first particular person to walk on the moon and Charles “Pete” Conrad, commander of the first crew to are living on Skylab, the initial U.S. house station.
Later recipients integrated Jim Lovell, commander of the sick-fated Apollo 13 mission Thomas Stafford, the U.S. commander of the joint Apollo-Soyuz Take a look at Project John Youthful and Bob Crippen, the crew of initially house shuttle mission Shannon Lucid, who at the time (1996) held the history for the longest spaceflight by a lady William Shepherd, the 1st commander of the Global Place Station and the fallen Apollo 1, STS-51L (space shuttle Challenger) and STS-107 (Columbia) crew members, who died in 1967, 1986 and 2003, respectively.
Picked to grow to be astronauts in 2000, each Hurley and Behnken flew on two house shuttle missions in advance of launching on DM-2. Hurley flew as pilot on the closing shuttle mission and Behnken served as main of the astronaut office from 2012 to 2015. Hurley still left NASA in July 2021, followed by Behnken 16 months afterwards.
“The courage, the commitment, the brilliance, the eyesight, the skill to see and fully grasp what is possible and then to go for it signifies the most effective of who we are as a country, and in that way you two encourage all of us,” claimed Harris. “You serve as a serious instance of the electric power of the ambition and the aspirations of our nation.”
Hurley and Behnken were being joined at the White House by their families, together with wives Karen Nyberg and Megan McArthur.
“As numerous of you in all probability know, for the two Bob and Doug, space is a bit of a family business enterprise,” reported Harris. “Doug’s wife, Karen, has built a number of excursions to the Global Area Station, and Bob’s spouse, Megan, assisted fix the Hubble House Telescope.”
“So it turns out it normally takes a complete spouse and children to do the variety of perform that you all have performed to enable us to check out the universe,” the vice president explained.
The Congressional Area Medal of Honor is the third-maximum award an astronaut can acquire, under the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor and Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is independent from the armed service Medal of Honor, which is bestowed for intense bravery and gallantry in battle.
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