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This article is part of <\/span><\/i>Upstream,<\/span><\/i><\/a> The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Artemis II crew made history by venturing <\/span>further than humans<\/span><\/a> had ever gone before. But they also accomplished another spectacular feat: inspiring the rest of us with genuine \u201cmoon joy.<\/a>\u201d And they only had to fly <\/span>248,655 miles<\/span><\/a> from Earth to do it.<\/span><\/p>\n All of America fell in love with the crew members during their nearly <\/span>10-day mission<\/span><\/a>, which began April 1. We knew there was something special brewing when we saw pilot Victor Glover tell each of his four daughters, \u201cI love you,\u201d just before launch. Mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen laughed with their loved ones. And commander Reid Wiseman flashed <\/span>heart hands<\/span><\/a> for his daughters, who made their widowed dad \u201c<\/span>moon cupcakes<\/span><\/a>\u201d to celebrate the moment he was chosen for the mission.\u00a0<\/span>We\u2019re not crying; you\u2019re crying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n They may have prepped for every possible scenario, but even NASA was surprised by the happiness on board. \u201cThis is a great example of why we go and do these missions,\u201d NASA administrator <\/span>Amit Kshatriya<\/span><\/a> said. \u201cIf you can\u2019t take love to the stars, then what are we doing?\u201d With a batch of cookies from home, the cutest baseball-capped plushie, a bird\u2019s eye view of humanity, and a message rooted in faith, here\u2019s how the Artemis II crew touched our hearts and made life on Earth something to celebrate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The \u201980s sitcom intro:<\/b> The crew cut together the most heartwarming <\/span>\u2018<\/span><\/a>80s sitcom intro<\/span><\/a> for space travel we\u2019ve ever seen, edited to the \u201c<\/span>Full House<\/span><\/a>\u201d theme song. <\/span>Featuring each astronaut as our favorite recurring character, it showed crew members looking up from their work with megawatt smiles straight into the camera. \u201cWe were doing scenes from bad \u201980s sitcoms,\u201d Reid Wiseman explained<\/a>. \u201cWe are cracking up, up here.\u201d That authentic camaraderie has us crossing our fingers for an invite to the next zero-gravity backyard barbecue. Even if you never saw the original TV series, the lyrics<\/a> sent us to the moon: \u201cEverywhere you look, everywhere you go, there\u2019s a heart, a hand to hold onto \u2026 When you\u2019re lost out there and you\u2019re all alone, a light is waiting to carry you home.\u201d<\/p>\n Rise: America\u2019s cutest zero-gravity indicator: <\/b>Serving as the fifth member of the crew, adorable baseball-sized plushie Rise (designed by second-grader <\/span>Lucas Ye<\/span><\/a> as part of a worldwide contest) had plenty to do onboard. <\/span>Inspired by Apollo 8\u2019s iconic \u201cEarthrise<\/a>\u201d photo, Rise served as a smiley indicator of weightlessness<\/a> for the astronauts. But the design also featured a zipper pocket that held a digital memory card loaded with over 5.6 million names of people joining the mission. \u201cWe always say that we\u2019re going for all, and by all,\u201d Reid Wiseman<\/a> shared. \u201cZipping that little pocket on the bottom of Rise was kind of the moment that put it all together for me.\u201d<\/p>\n The reminder to share the love: <\/b>Just before the Artemis II crew briefly lost contact with mission control as they flew past the dark side of the moon, Victor Glover shared a powerful message about his faith. <\/span>\u201cI would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries on Earth, and that\u2019s love,\u201d Glover said<\/a>. \u201cChrist said in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all that you are. And He also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it. And that is to love your neighbor as yourself.\u201d Assuring everyone that there\u2019s no distance too great, he added, \u201cAs we prepare to go out of radio communication, we\u2019re still going to feel your love from Earth. And to all of you down on Earth and around Earth, we love you, from the moon.\u201d<\/p>\n The lunar marker for Carroll: <\/b>Reid Wiseman lost his wife <\/span>Carroll Taylor Wiseman<\/span><\/a> to cancer in 2020 when she was 46. But the crew held her memory close when they named a lunar crater in her honor on April 6. <\/span>\u201cWe lost a loved one; her name was Carroll,\u201d Jeremy Hansen<\/a> said. Describing that the location would be visible from Earth, he added, \u201cIt\u2019s a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it \u2018Carroll.\u2019\u201d Not a dry eye in the house, the crew held onto each other during one of the most moving moments of the mission.<\/p>\n The unifying Easter message: <\/b>Victor Glover dropped the mic with his impromptu reflections on April 4, the day before Easter. <\/span>\u201cI can really see Earth as one thing,\u201d Glover<\/a> shared of his elevated perspective. \u201cYou\u2019re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos \u2026 You are special in all of this emptiness \u2026 You have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together.\u201d Inviting everyone around the world to strive toward unity, he invited us to \u201cRemember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and that we gotta get through this together.\u201d<\/p>\n Other great moments from Artemis II:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Artemis III<\/span><\/a> is scheduled to launch sometime in 2027 to test docking tech, and in 2028, <\/span>Artemis IV<\/span><\/a> will put humans back on the moon. As launch director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson<\/a> said, \u201cArtemis and Artemis II remind us that our greatest chapters are yet to be written.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n