Artemis 2 astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman collecting their Stephen Hawking Medals at Starmus VIII. Alongside Brian May (left), Garik Israelian (center right) and Chris Hadfield (right). (Image credit: Daisy Dobrijevic/Future)

TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS — The Artemis II astronauts may have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth to the moon, but they made sure the rest of us didn't miss out on the adventure.

Now, their efforts to bring the wonders of space exploration back down to Earth have earned them one of science communication's most prestigious honors: the Stephen Hawking Medal.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover , alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen , accepted the award on Saturday (Oct. 17), during the opening ceremony of the Starmus VIII festival.…