Artemis II Congressional Gold Medal Act

Key Points

• This bill would award the Congressional Gold Medal to the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission. This is the highest honor Congress can give to a civilian. The crew includes Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen.
• The award recognizes the crew for being the first humans to travel beyond low Earth orbit in over 50 years. During their mission, they set a new record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, reaching more than 252,000 miles away.
• The mission included several historic firsts that this bill honors. It featured the first woman, the first Black astronaut, and the first Canadian to travel toward the Moon. It also recognizes the first female launch director for a lunar mission.
• The Treasury Department will design and create the gold medals. To help pay for the costs, the government will sell bronze copies of the medals to the public. This ensures the program does not rely solely on taxpayer money.

Impact Analysis

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