NASA Artemis II Zero Gravity Indicator & Moon Mascot 'Rise' Back Home on Earth

NASA Artemis II Zero Gravity Indicator & Moon Mascot 'Rise' Back Home on Earth

NASA Artemis II commander and NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman: "PS—it’s hard not to love this little guy. I can't let Rise out of my sight . . . currently tethered to my water bottle."

The 'Rise' Moon mascot for the Artemis II Mission flew along with the crew, carrying 5,647,889 names on their journey around the Moon. People from around the world submitted their names through the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign. These names were downloaded onto a secure digital (SD) card that was safely stored inside Rise, the zero gravity indicator designed by 3rd grader Lucas Ye from California. 

The zero gravity indicator for the Moonbound crew was selected from thousands of submissions from over 50 countries and is named “Rise.” The design was inspired by the iconic Earthrise moment from the Apollo 8 mission.

During the selection process, the crew narrowed a list of 25 finalists to five top designs, including:

“Big Steps of Little Octopus,” Anzhelika Iudakova, Finland

“Corey the Explorer,” Daniela Colina, Peru

“Creation Mythos,” Johanna Beck, McPherson, Kansas

“Lepus the Moon Rabbit,” Oakville Trafalgar School, Canada

“Rise,” Lucas Ye, Mountain View, California

NASA’s Artemis II Mission took astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist, on a nearly 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth. The crew's Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (5:07 p.m. PDT) on Friday, April 10, 2026.

During their mission, the astronauts completed a historic lunar flyby, marking humanity’s return to the vicinity of the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years.

Learn more about NASA's Artemis II Mission:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-ii/

Image Credit: NASA's Johnson Space Center/R. Wiseman
Image Date: April 11, 2026

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