Authorized by Congress in 1969 and first presented by President Jimmy Carter in 1978, the medal had gone to 28 people, 17 of them after their deaths
Vice President Kamala Harris presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to former NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on January 31, 2023. Dr. Raven Baxter was among the guests in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House.
"So, today, for the first time in nearly 17 years, we award the highest civilian honor that our nation can bestow upon our astronauts," Harris said.
Harris speaks in the Indian Treaty Room before presenting the medals, January 31, 2023. Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky
The medals recognized the pair's flight on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission in 2020. After Hurley piloted the last Space Shuttle flight in 2011, U.S. astronauts reached the International Space Station only on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. NASA paid as much as $90 million a seat, SpacePolicyOnline reported. On May 30, 2020, nine years later, Behnken and Hurley launched aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
Harris said that "for the first time in history, we saw astronauts reach orbit in a capsule built and launched by the private sector."
The ceremony came five days after NASA's Day of Remembrance and one day before the 20th anniversary of the Columbia accident. Harris noted both in her remarks. Behnken and Hurley's capsule, Endeavour, was set to carry NASA's Crew-6 to the station no earlier than February 26, NASA said. Boeing's Starliner, a second U.S. commercial crew vehicle, had not yet flown astronauts, according to NASA.
By partnering with commercial companies, Harris said, Behnken, Hurley and their families had "enabled NASA to deepen its focus on exploration." She cited the first commercial space stations, the Artemis return to the Moon, and Mars. She predicted that hundreds of people would fly in the capsule, including "entrepreneurs, educators, artists, and, yes, even students." She then welcomed three engineering students in the audience.
Harris places the Congressional Space Medal of Honor on Doug Hurley. Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Baxter asked the two medalists what they wanted her audience to know. "They emphasized that space is for EVERYONE, and don't give up on your dreams! There are SO many jobs contributing to what they do. It's not all about the astronauts!" she wrote on Instagram two days later. She added that they "strongly wanted me to share that space research often directly advances our research back on Earth."
Congress authorized the medal in 1969. The president awards it for "exceptionally meritorious efforts," on the NASA administrator's recommendation, according to NASA. President Jimmy Carter presented the first six in 1978, to Neil Armstrong, John Glenn and four others. Seventeen of the 28 earlier recipients died in the Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia disasters. The most recent, in 2006, was Bob Crippen, pilot of the first Shuttle flight. Behnken and Hurley brought the total to 30, NASA said.
Guests stand for Behnken, left, and Hurley after the presentation. Photo: NASA/Joel Kowsky
Baxter wrote of "so much pride in the room," with fellow astronauts, friends and family gathered "with tears of joy and intimate celebration." She posed with both medalists at the reception that followed.
Baxter, a molecular biologist and science communicator, attended U.S. Space Camp on a scholarship as a sixth grader, the Greensboro News & Record reported in 2004. She later participated in White House National Space Council roundtables.
NASA's release on the ceremony, the Vice President's full remarks and C-SPAN's video are online.
In a Comment for Nature Microbiology's June 2026 focus issue on science communication, Dr. Raven Baxter argues that the information ecosystem around science is out of balance and can recover.
A 2022 review by Penn State anthropologists Grace Bowland and Laura Weyrich proposes four ways microbes in the mouth may affect the brain.
Dr. Raven Baxter and NASA astrophysicist Dr. Ronald Gamble co-hosted the fifth season of Pfizer's Science Will Win, a four-part series on conjugate vaccines, multispecific antibodies, molecular glues and antibody-drug conjugates.
