Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman admitted to stealing one very important item from the capsule as he and his teammates disembarked the Orion capsule after Friday’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean: the crew’s zero-gravity indicator.
The little plush ball, nicknamed “Rise” and made to look like the iconic “earth-rise” over the moon that can only be seen from space, was featured alongside the human crew members throughout the Artemis II lunar mission and had, in effect, become part of the team.
Rise could be seen in a photo of Wiseman after he left the capsule, prompting a comment on X that read, “It’s very moving to me that Commander Reid Wiseman, the last of the #ArtemisII astronauts to exit Integrity, made sure to bring the plushie Rise — and the 5 million names it carries — back with him immediately upon landing. Every one of those names completed the mission with him.”
Wiseman responded, saying, “I was supposed to leave Rise in Integrity … but that was not something I was going to do. I stuffed that little guy in a dry bag we had in our survival kit and hooked the bag onto my pressure suit.”
I was supposed to leave Rise in Integrity….but that was not something I was going to do. I stuffed that little guy in a dry bag we had in our survival kit and hooked the bag onto my pressure suit.
— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) April 11, 2026
Wiseman followed that with another photo later on, reassuring fans that Rise was still safe and in his custody.
“PS- it’s hard not to love this little guy. I cant let Rise out of my sight…currently tethered to my water bottle,” he said.
8-year-old Lucas Ye designed Rise, the mascot for the Artemis II mission.pic.twitter.com/7hZOJLuz0i
— Cinema Hub (@_CinemaHub_) April 11, 2026
In addition to functioning as the team’s zero-gravity indicator throughout the mission, Rise also carried the names of millions of people on earth as the team traveled farther from earth than anyone in history.
Hi Rise! 🧵
The Artemis II zero gravity indicator was designed by 3rd grader Lucas Ye. Our blanket technician at Goddard brought it to life, fabricated in the same lab where blankets are created to keep spacecraft like @NASARoman the right temperature for science. pic.twitter.com/1lALREmkUs
— NASA Goddard (@NASAGoddard) April 2, 2026
The little plush moon was designed by a California second grader, Lucas Ye, as part of a contest — which required that the item meet certain weight and size standards and only be made from specific materials that would be safe for spaceflight — and Ye has since said that he’d like to work for NASA when he grows up.
