NASA Moon Mascot Ready to Rise with Artemis II

NASA Moon Mascot Ready to Rise with Artemis II

Meet Rise! The Moon Mascot for the Artemis II Mission is flying 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 an SD card that is 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 Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist onboard, was successfully launched at 6:35 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 1, 2026, for the Artemis II Mission from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s Artemis II Mission will take Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back aboard their Orion spacecraft.

Watch Artemis II Mission coverage on:

NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/scheduled-events/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nasa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/

X: https://x.com/nasa

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa

Check the Artemis blog for updates: 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Scientific Visualization Studio
Ryan Fitzgibbons (eMITS/AMA): Producer, Writer, Editor
Paula Cain (Sierra Lobo): Interviewee
Rob Andreoli (eMITS): Videographer
Katy Mersmann (NASA GSFC): Videographer
Thalia Patrinos (NCS): Project Support
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: April 2, 2026

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