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source:(KBTX)<\/p>\nHOUSTON, Texas (KBTX) – The four astronauts behind NASA\u2019s historic Artemis II mission received a hero\u2019s welcome Friday at Johnson Space Center, where President Donald Trump presented them with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, were honored for becoming the first humans to return to lunar orbit in more than 50 years.<\/p>\n
source:(KBTX)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a very rare thing,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt\u2019s for courageous people, brilliant people, bestowed on astronauts who have distinguished themselves with exceptional service to the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The crew completed a 10-day mission around the moon in April, breaking the record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach breakthrough opens a door to the next one, and each new frontier gives those who follow it a chance to reach out beyond it,\u201d Trump told the crew. \u201cYou didn\u2019t just make history, astronauts. You helped open a new chapter of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The visit wasn\u2019t just about honoring the past. Trump also announced plans for a new national institution aimed at the future of space exploration.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn just a few moments, I will sign an executive order to begin the process of creating a new national academy,\u201d Trump said. \u201cIt\u2019s called the U.S. Space Academy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The academy is designed to feed both NASA and the U.S. Space Force, though few details have been released. A commission chaired by NASA\u2019s administrator has 120 days to propose key details, including the academy\u2019s location.<\/p>\n
Texas\u2019 role in the nation\u2019s space ambitions was also front and center Friday. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz highlighted the state\u2019s growing influence in the industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 10 years from now, that SpaceX IPO will have created a venture capital ecosystem here in Texas that is going to fund hundreds of new space ventures and is going to make sure that Texas continues to lead in space for the next 100 years,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n
NASA is now looking ahead to its next milestone: returning astronauts to the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
\u201cA nation cannot be first on Earth if we\u2019re going to be second in space,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
A&M\u2019s role in getting there<\/p>\n
Texas A&M has quietly played a role in nearly every part of NASA\u2019s Artemis program, according to Texas A&M mechanical engineering professor Robert Ambrose, who spent years at NASA overseeing software for the Orion spacecraft, the same capsule carried the Artemis II crew around the moon and back.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcross A&M, we have so many faculty involved in aspects of NASA\u2019s story,\u201d Ambrose said. \u201cWe have a lot of engineers here in the College of Engineering, where I am, that work on everything from spacesuits to rovers to re-entry dynamics and guidance and navigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ambrose said the university isn\u2019t slowing down. Texas A&M is currently building the Space Institute at Johnson Space Center, a facility designed to train the next generation of astronauts for missions to the moon and Mars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re building the Space Institute down at the Johnson Space Center right now, solving a problem that the country had no place to test a lunar surface, or much less Mars surface, human experiments,\u201d Ambrose said.<\/p>\n