News · 14 April 2026

Artemis Commander Hid a Plush Toy From NASA

NASA Kennedy Space Center / NASA/Kim Shiflett via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

A small plush toy carried to the moon and back became the unexpected highlight of a record-breaking mission. Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman was supposed to leave the zero-gravity mascot, a plushie called Rise, aboard the Orion spacecraft after splashdown on 10 April, but he hid it in a dry bag attached to his pressure suit. Rise, designed by a third-grade student from California, had carried 5.6 million names on its lunar journey.

By BriefTea Editorial · 14 April 2026 at 7:10

Reported by Space.com · How we write briefs