Two former astronauts receive Space Medal of Honor

Vice President Kamala Harris presented the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to a pair of former NASA astronauts Tuesday for designing a new crew capsule, the Crew Dragon, and then piloting it to the International Space Station in 2020.

Harris said their work ushered in a new era in space, an era of commercial space flight, as they conducted the inaugural NASA SpaceX Demonstration Demo-2 mission. It was the first time in nearly a decade that astronauts blasted into orbit aboard an American rocket from American soil, a first for a private company.

Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken received the accolades in the first Congressional Space Medal of Honors awarded since 2006.Hurley served in the Marines, and Behnken served in the Air Force. They were both military test pilots before joining NASA in 2000.Harris chairs the National Space Council. She presented the award in a ceremony from the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Tuesday afternoon.