Trump announces new US Space Academy during Artemis II medal presentation speech

The president presented the four Artemis II astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor after a long self-congratulatory speech Friday.HOUSTON (CN) — President Trump announced the creation of the U.S. Space Academy during his speech Friday as part of a ceremony presenting the four Artemis II astronauts with Congressional Space Medals of Honor.The Artemis II crew completed its lunar orbital mission around the Moon in April, conducting research and tests ahead of the planned Artemis IV moon landing mission in 2028.President Trump presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to all four crew members Friday: Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.During the ceremony, Trump announced he would sign an executive order creating the U.S. Space Academy to train new Space Force members.“So you think of West Point, and you think of Annapolis, and you think of the Air Force Academy and you think of the Coast Guard Academy, which is great; they’re all great. But we’re gonna have now a Space Force, we’re gonna have an academy for what the people in this room love the most."Trump did not announce a location but said audience members, including Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Brian Babin, had lobbied him for one. He signed the executive order between his speech and the medal presentation.Trump emphasized the Space Academy would train personnel for the Space Force, NASA and the private space industry. He also compared the difficulty of admission to military academies and Ivy League universities.Beyond the executive order announcement, Trump’s speech shifted between praising NASA and the Artemis II crew and touting himself and his administration.Trump compared his support for NASA with that of his predecessors, praised his creation of the Space Force and discussed the military’s role in space. He highlighted the Space Force’s involvement in the invasion of Venezuela and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.Trump also spoke admiringly of the space program, recalling bringing a television into a meeting to watch part of the Artemis flight and joking that no work got done afterward.He wished the team behind the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope luck ahead of its Aug. 30 launch, then criticized his predecessors’ lack of investment in NASA and described his terms as moving the agency from “the dark ages” to a “golden age.”Trump honored each of the four astronauts by name near the end of his speech.He noted the Artemis II crew named a lunar crater after Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, and briefly suggested he would like something on the moon named after himself.While honoring pilot Victor Glover, Trump highlighted Glover’s prayer as the spacecraft passed behind the moon and lost contact with mission control.In honoring mission specialist Christina Koch, Trump focused on Koch’s frequent statement to young people: “Do what scares you.”Trump also thanked mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, noting he became the first non-American astronaut to travel beyond low-Earth orbit and helped develop protocols to keep the crew healthy during the mission.After honoring the astronauts, Trump touted the stock market’s record highs during his term before stepping aside to sign the executive order.Commander Wiseman spoke after the medal presentation, thanking his crew, fellow NASA astronauts and the president for supporting the program.“We wear these four medals, and we are going to wear them with pride," Commander Wiseman told the audience. “But please know, it is not pride for ourselves that we feel, and I truly mean that. It is pride for the grit that our families had when we left this planet. It is pride for that team, this NASA team, that sent us on the mission. And it is pride for the international community that stood alongside us, got this vehicle ready, operated it and cheered us on. So thank you for bestowing this honor on us.”Victor Glover also presented Trump with a blue flight jacket with the Artemis II patch, a flight operations patch, and two “45” and “47” patches to mark Trump’s two terms in office.Trump took a brief tour of mission control and other facilities at the Johnson Space Center after the ceremony.Categories / National, ScienceSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads