NASA

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman announced “Rise,” designed by Lucas Ye of Mountain View, California, as the zero gravity indicator that will fly with the crew around the Moon. “Rise” was inspired by the iconic Earthrise moment from the Apollo 8 mission. A zero gravity indicator is a small plush item that typically rides with a crew to visually indicate when they are in space. The design was selected from more than 2,600 submissions from over 50 countries, including K-12 students, that were part of a Moon Mascot contest. Courtesy of NASA.

Artemis II

NASA launched four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby mission. Artemis II tested the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems and validated the capabilities and techniques needed for humans to live and work in deep space.  

The Orion spacecraft is NASA’s advanced crew vehicle designed for deep space missions beyond low Earth orbit. As a reusable capsule, it will carry astronauts to the Moon, Mars, and other destinations, providing life support and safe re-entry. Orion typically accommodates a crew of four but can be configured for different mission needs. It is a central part of NASA’s Artemis program, aiming to return humans to the lunar surface and expand exploration into the solar system.

Orion

Rise

United States of America

Canada

This astronaut visited the International Space Station.

ISS Visitor

This astronaut crossed the Kármán Line (100 km), the internationally accepted boundary of space.

Crossed Kármán Line

This astronaut has spent over a month in space.

Space Resident

Canadian Space Agency (CSA)

European Space Agency (ESA)

Northrop Grumman

United Launch Alliance (ULA)

Boeing

Lockheed Martin

European Union

Soyuz TMA-13M

Soyuz TMA-13M ferried three members of the Expedition 40 crew to the International Space Station.

Soyuz is a human-carrying capsule built and operated by Russia, capable of transporting up to three people to the Space Station at a time. It has been upgraded numerous times since its first use in the 1960s for the Soviet lunar program and was the only crewed vehicle for the Station from 2011 to 2020.

Soyuz

Reid Wiseman

This astronaut is in the top 5% for total spacewalking time.

Elite Spacewalker

This astronaut became the woman who has journeyed farthest from Earth.

Woman Who Has Journeyed Farthest from Earth

Soyuz MS-12

This three-person International Space Station crew mission saw the relaunch of the two crewmembers from the aborted Soyuz MS-10 flight six months prior. They were joined on this flight by NASA astronaut Christina Koch who, after launching for a six-month mission, ended up staying on the ISS for a year and breaking the longest single-spaceflight record for a woman by more than two months. Hazza Al Mansouri landed on this mission after launching on Soyuz MS-15. If you ask Russia and NASA what spaceflight number this was for Ovchinin and Hague, you'd get a different answer.  Russia uses the internationally recognized Kármán line at 100 km as the marker of where space begins and NASA uses the US-only 80 km mark. Thus, on Soyuz MS-10, Russia does not consider Ovchinin and Hague to have reached space, but NASA does. This is either Hague's first or second spaceflight and Ovchinin second or third... depending on who you ask.

Christina H. Koch

SpaceX

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

SpaceX Crew-1

Crew-1 was SpaceX's first operational crew rotation mission to the ISS. The vehicle carried three Americans and one Japanese astronaut to the Station. This was the first time an international astronaut flew on a US spacecraft since Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) in May 2011.

Crew Dragon is the first privately built and operated orbital spacecraft capable of flying humans. As a reusable SpaceX capsule, it transports crew members to and from the International Space Station. It will also carry paying customers to the Station and low Earth orbit. While it typically accommodates a crew of four, this number can vary depending on the mission.

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