NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, accepted the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication at the Starmus VIII festival in Tenerife on October 17, 2026, honored for translating their mission into an accessible global experience.
The honor recognizes all four crew members, including NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who did not attend the opening ceremony in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Festival organizers selected the team for bridging the gap between complex deep-space milestones and the public through live communications, interviews, and public outreach during their mission.
Reflections From 250,000 Miles Above Earth
Standing before the audience, Reid Wiseman described the profound perspective gained from viewing our home world from the vicinity of the lunar satellite. He noted that Earth appears the size of your thumb when observed from a quarter-million miles away, operating 250,000 miles away or 400,000 kilometers away from planet Earth.
Reid Wiseman, via Space
If we could take each of you 250,000 miles away from this planet, 400,000 kilometers away from planet Earth, and you would see Earth the size of your thumb.
When you’re there looking through the moon, back at this tiny Earth, the only thing you feel is love, peace, hope, unity
Wiseman added that those aren’t the right words, but that is all you feel
, emphasizing the emotional resonance of deep-space observation. Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen echoed that sentiment, noting that gazing back at the blue dot prompts immediate questions about human priorities, while stressing that positivity and unity remain essential amid 21st-century uncertainties like artificial intelligence and climate change. Christina Koch, absent from Tenerife, received thanks and a message of appreciation delivered by pilot Victor Glover. Garik Israelian, who founded the Starmus festival, was present alongside Canary Islands government representative Migdalia Machín and Tenerife council member Juanjo Martínez.
Starmus VIII and a Decade of the Stephen Hawking Medal
The awards ceremony marked the medal’s 10th anniversary. Starmus is currently holding its eighth edition under the banner The Search for Truth
, uniting prominent international figures across science, space exploration, technology, music and the arts to champion reason, evidence, knowledge and scientific thought in a progressively complex world.
In a pre-ceremony statement, Queen guitarist and Starmus co-founder Brian May expressed that recognizing the brave Artemis II crew members provides a very special thrill for everyone at Starmus, mirroring the way they previously honored the Apollo astronauts who opened the path to the moon more than half a century ago. Past honorees include naturalist David Attenborough, Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and primatologist Jane Goodall. The festival opening ceremony also awarded the first Jane Goodall Earth Medal to the Costa Rican anthropologist, economist and analyst Christiana Figueres for her pioneering work on climate change, with Figueres receiving the award from Jane Goodall’s family. Filmmaker Ridley Scott and physicist Brian Cox previously received prizes from Starmus, while young science communicators Valeria Corrales and Aneeshwar Kunchala were honored in the festival’s junior edition.
| Recipient Category | 20th-Century Legacy | 2026 Honoree |
|---|---|---|
| Space Exploration | Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin | Artemis II Crew (Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen) |
| Culture and Film | – | Filmmaker Ridley Scott |
Festival Events Across Tenerife and La Palma
The festival officially began following the awards ceremony with a musical event featuring Sarah Brightman, Andrea Bocelli, and Queen guitarist Brian May, backed by the Las Palmas Symphony Orchestra.
