Overview
- The Artemis II crew, which revealed the winner Friday, chose “Rise,” a moonlike plush designed by second-grader Lucas Ye of Mountain View, California.
- A MicroSD card holding names submitted by the public will ride inside the plush, with entries closing Friday at 5 p.m.
- NASA is targeting Wednesday night, April 1, 2026, for the first launch attempt, with other opportunities available the same week if needed.
- Artemis II is planned as a roughly 10-day flight around the moon to test the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft, deep-space operations, and how the trip affects astronauts.
- NASA uses small toys as zero-gravity indicators because they float once weightlessness begins, and the crew said Rise’s Apollo 8 Earthrise nod helped seal the pick after a global contest.