Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman broke NASA protocol shortly after returning to Earth.
Wiseman and the rest of the Artemis II crew safely landed in the Pacific Ocean on Friday (April 10), as millions tuned in to watch the astronauts return home following a 10-day lunar mission.
The crew traveled farther into space than anyone ever before, collecting data and imagery from the far side of the Moon and testing the Orion spacecraft for a future lunar landing.
Image credits: NASA
After splashdown, Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen were met by a NASA and US military team that assisted them out of the capsule, nicknamed Integrity by the crew, and transported them by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha for medical checkups.
But there was someone who unexpectedly joined the crew on their descent from Orion: the crew’s mascot, Rise.
Image credits: NASA
According to NASA’s post-splashdown checklist, the stuffed toy was supposed to be left on the spacecraft to be retrieved at a later date. But Wiseman wasn’t going to leave the so-called “fifth member” behind.
Taking to social media, the commander explained, “I was supposed to leave Rise in Integrity… but that was not something I was going to do.
“I stuffed that little guy in a dry bag we had in our survival kit and hooked the bag onto my pressure suit.”
Image credits: NASA /James Blair
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The cuddly Moon toy is now at Wiseman’s home with his two daughters, Ellie and Katey.
“It’s hard not to love this little guy. I can’t let Rise out of my sight,” Wiseman wrote, showing that he had tethered Rise to his water bottle.
The astronaut was seen clutching the stuffed toy as the crew waited aboard the USS John P. Murtha. Rise also made a special appearance onstage at Ellington Field on Saturday, when the crew celebrated the end of their mission .
Image credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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Rise had joined the Artemis II crew at conferences and press tours before their record-setting mission, during which he was often seen floating on camera in front of the crew.
Designed by Lucas Ye, an 8-year-old from California, the plushie that traveled to the Moon was reportedly selected from over 2,600 entries sent in from more than 50 countries.
The plushie is a mini Moon wearing an Earth-colored cap brimmed with stars.
Image credits: astro_reid
Its design was inspired by the iconic Earthrise moment from the Apollo 8 mission, according to NASA. Mission specialist Christina Koch said that Rise’s historical references helped the crew select Ye’s design over others.
Rise is what is known as a zero–gravity indicator: a small object that begins to float when a spacecraft has left Earth’s pull.
Therefore, the space mascot had to meet specific criteria. It had to fit in a 6x6x6-inch box and weigh no more than 12 ounces. It could only be made with specific materials, and it had to “represent humanity, exploration, and the spirit of the Artemis campaign.”
Image credits: astro_reid
Inside the soft companion is an SD card storing the names of more than five million people who wanted to be part of the mission and have their monikers travel around the Moon.
Wiseman shared a photo of Rise in a car with his two daughters, which he captioned, “Mission complete.”
Eagle-eyed social media users spotted a special detail in a NASA picture of Lucas Ye’s family posted on Friday: Ye’s Rise (a prototype of the mascot) was inscribed with the name “Carroll.”
Image credits: astro_reid
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Carroll is the name of Wiseman’s wife, who passed away from cancer in 2020. The Artemis II crew suggested naming a Moon crater after her in a moment that was shared during their lunar flyby livestream. The suggestion will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union.
“A number of years ago, we started this journey in our close-knit astronaut family, and we lost a loved one,” Artemis II mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said to mission control on April 6. “Her name was Carroll: the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie.”
Image credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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Rise isn’t the first toy to travel farther than its creator could have ever imagined.
In 1961, Russia’s Yuri Gagarin carried a small doll with him on the first-ever spaceflight. In 2022, the Artemis I mission took a Snoopy plushie on its journey into space.
Image credits: VideoFromSpace
Artemis II was the first crewed mission to lunar space in over 50 years, since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
According to NASA, during their mission, Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen flew 694,481 miles in total (1.12 million km) and captured more than 7,000 images of the lunar surface and a solar eclipse.
In a statement, the space agency explained that one of the mission’s objectives was to support scientific investigations “to help NASA prepare astronauts to live and work on the Moon as the agency builds a Moon Base and looks toward Mars.“
“They should market these. I want one,” wrote one fan, referring to the adorable space mascot
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