While Fairfield students were enjoying Easter break, four NASA astronauts were preparing to travel around the moon and back on mission Artemis II. Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen were tasked with the mission of traveling around the far side of the Moon on a 10-day mission. The spacecraft, named Orion, launched on April 1 and landed in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. 

While the flight may have come to an end, online chatter about the trip has continued to flood the internet. NASA made the journey very publicly accessible through livestreams and media coverage. The fun-loving crew of Artemis II has captured the hearts of many, including myself, and today, I am going to be running you through my personal Top 5 moments aboard the Artemis II.

Number 5: Outlook Login Incident.

Less than a day after Orion launched, Reid Wiseman attempted to log on to Microsoft’s email application, Outlook. Unfortunately for him, Outlook is notorious for its lack of user friendliness and difficulties with signing in. He radioed mission control informing them he had opened “two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those are working.” If Outlook can’t hold up here on Earth, it had no chance of surviving in space. As a frequent Outlook user myself, I knew Wiseman’s issue all too well. At least now NASA and I have something in common: we both don’t know how to work Outlook.

Number 4: The Rise Plush.

Second grader Lucas Yee submitted his design for the Artemis II mission mascot, won, and had his idea transformed into a small stuffed animal. The small moon plush, named Rise, wore a baseball cap modeled after Earth and was aboard the Orion as the crew’s zero-gravity indicator. Rise also had a microSD card imbedded within it that contained 5.6 million names from participants of NASA’s “Fly Your Name” program. The plush can be found floating around the Orion and even took over the Artemis II social media pages for a day. The crew constantly played catch using Rise and spun him around while floating in zero-g. These wholesome moments with Rise reminded me that even astronauts can have some whimsy in space, and so it goes in number four.

Number 3: Victor Glover’s Speech.

While aboard the Orion, the crew was asked what it felt like to be in the vast and empty expanse of space. Victor Glover gave a beautiful speech about unity between humans and our intrinsic worth and uniqueness. He reassured us all here on Earth that “you are special in all of this emptiness.” Glover’s speech is a testament to the importance of each individual person within this vast world and beyond. I was very touched by his words, and I have no doubt that his speech will inspire the astronauts of the future for years to come.

Number 2: The Nutella Fly Over.

One day on a NASA livestream, a random Nutella jar was caught peacefully floating through the Orion cabin with none of the crewmates’ knowledge. NASA reported afterward that the jar was not a paid advertisement and instead was just a food preference of the crew. The moment took the internet by storm for its perfectly positioned flight path in the middle of the livestream. Even the official Nutella X account posted, “Honored to have traveled further than any spread in history.” This may be one of the best instances of free advertising and left me wanting some Nutella-covered acai from Peet’s, and so it goes in number 2.

Number 1: The Carroll Crater.

During their journey, the Artemis II crew took note of fresh craters on the moon that had no name. In lieu of this, the crew decided to radio NASA and propose a particularly special name for one of these craters. Surrounded by the rest of the crew, Hansen contacted mission control and suggested that the crater be named “Carroll” after Reid Wiseman’s late wife. He said, “We lost a loved one…her name was Carroll. The spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie… it’s a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it Carroll.” After Hansen finished the proposal, the entire crew hugged one another while the world watched with teary eyes. Thanks to the Artemis crew, now Carroll’s memory will forever be cemented on the Moon’s surface and in our hearts. Reid’s love for his late wife truly captures what it means to love someone to the Moon and back.

The crew of Artemis II have now officially travelled farther from Earth than any other humans in history. Their journey marks the continuation of human exploration into space and the unknown and they have brought us along for the ride.

Fairfield students, too, have been impacted by this historic mission. Second year mechanical engineering major, John Cummings, relayed his feelings about the mission to the Mirror: “I think many of us kinda always wondered what it was like to watch the Apollo missions. The farthest us humans have ever ventured. Many of us ventured into STEM because of that quest to understand more about the universe. Watching the Artemis mission feels like finally understanding the true scale of the Apollo mission. Our generation is picking up where the history textbooks left on to continue that quest.”

From floating Nutella to the heartwarming Carroll Crater, the Artemis II mission has proven to be a source of many memorable moments, bringing us closer together. The ability to be a part of this journey is something I will never forget.