Former NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken (L) and Douglas Hurley (R), are awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor during a ceremony hosted by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (C) awards the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to two former NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken (L) and Douglas Hurley (R), during a ceremony in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
US Vice President Kamala Harris (R) awards the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to former NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley during a ceremony in Washington Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
NASA astronaut Robert Behnken smiles prior to being helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he and NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. File Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA
NASA Astronauts Doug Hurley (L) and Bob Behnken depart the O&C Building at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off seconds after 3:22 PM with the first crewed Crew Dragon spacecraft from Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Saturday, May 30, 2020. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley is helped out of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX GO Navigator recovery ship after he and NASA astronaut Robert Behnken landed in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. Photo by Bill Ingalls/UPI
Support teams and curious recreational boaters arrive at the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley onboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, on August 2, 2020. File Photo by Bill Ingalls/UPI
The Demo-2 test flight for NASA's Commercial Crew Program was the first to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station and return them to Earth onboard a commercially built and operated spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley are returning after spending 64 days in space. File Photo by Bill Ingalls/UPI
NASA astronaut Robert Behnken works during the Wednesday, July 1, 2020, six-hour and one-minute spacewalk to swap an aging nickel-hydrogen battery for a new lithium-ion battery on the International Space Station's Starboard-6 truss structure. File photo courtesy of NASA/UPI
NASA astronaut Bob Behnken poses June 13, 2020, with a U.S. spacesuit he prepared for spacewalks to upgrade power systems on the International Space Station. File photo courtesy of NASA
NASA Astronaut Doug Hurley's son Jack and he touch hands as his wife Astronaut Karen Nyberg looks on while saying goodbye just prior to departure from the Operations and Checkout Building to the Launch Complex at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Saturday May 30, 2020. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI
US Vice President Kamala Harris (R) awards the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to former NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley (L), during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks before awarding the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to two former NASA astronauts during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (R) congratulates former NASA astronaut Douglas Hurley (L) after awarding him the Congressional Space Medal of Honor during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (R) congratulates former NASA astronaut Robert Behnken (L) after awarding him the Congressional Space Medal of Honor during a ceremony in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, DC, on Tuesday. Photo by Michael Reynolds/UPI
Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Vice President Kamala Harris recognized two astronauts with Congressional Space Medals of Honor at the White House on Tuesday, honoring them for a 2020 mission.
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley received medals for bravery for soaring to the International Space Station as part of NASA's SpaceX Demonstration Mission-2. It was the first time in 17 years that the medals have been awarded, Harris said.
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The mission, launched May 30, 2020, ended a nine-year drought of human spaceflights from U.S. soil. It was also the first time a private company -- SpaceX -- sent a manned flight into orbit.
"Together Bob and Doug and the SpaceX team worked for years to design a new crew capsule, aptly named the Crew Dragon," Harris said. "Once the capsule was built, Bob and Doug spent hundreds of hours testing thousands of flight scenarios. They understood the stakes of their work."
The duo launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, embarking on a 19-hour journey in a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the space station.
"For the first time in almost a decade we witnessed American astronauts launch an American rocket from American soil," Harris said.
"Bob and Doug together have written the first page of a new chapter in the history of American space flight. Through their ingenuity and bravery they have helped build America's bridge to low-Earth orbit and to the International Space Station."
Behnken and Hurley spent 64 days in space, returning to Earth on Aug. 2, 2020.
The veteran astronauts have been involved in several key moments in the history of space exploration. Hurley was behind the controls of the space shuttle Atlantis when it returned to Earth in 2011, following 30 years in commission.
"It was a moment of profound pride to reflect on the years of incredible progress made by the shuttle and its crews," the vice president said.
Behnken, chief astronaut at NASA, was one of the engineers that helped build the International Space Station. He has been on 10 spacewalks.
Both astronauts' wives are also astronauts. Hurley's wife Karen Nyberg has been a part of multiple missions to the International Space Station. Behnken's wife Megan McArthur helped repair the Hubble Space Telescope.
The medal ceremony was livestreamed on NASA's official website, NASA Television, Twitter, Facebook and the NASA mobile app at 4:25 p.m. EST.