The four Artemis II astronauts heading to Moon’s orbit are each carrying pouches with items close to their hearts — a family Bible, love letters, a pendant with children’s birthstones.
Inside their cramped 33-cubic feet Orion capsule, each astronaut was assigned a “personal preference kit” — just 5 inches by 2 inches and no heavier than 3.3 pounds — to take along whatever matters most to maintain morale and bring a little luck in the isolating void of space.
Before leaving on their fantastic voyage, crew members talked about their precious PPK contents.
- Pilot Victor Glover, a 49-year-old married father of four daughters, took family heirloom wedding rings and inspirational quotes compiled by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, according to BBC news.
- Mission Specialist Christina Koch, 47, married with no children, took handwritten notes from loved ones, calling them a “tactile connection” to loved ones back on Earth.
- Jeremy Hansen, a 50-year-old married dad of three and part of the Canadian Space Agency, packed a necklace with moon-shaped pendants engraved with “Moon and back,” featuring his family’s birthstones and names. He also brought maple syrup and maple cookies (not in the kit) to share with his fellow astronauts.
- Reid Wiseman, 50, the mission commander, brought a small notebook so he could record his thoughts for his two teenage daughters, Ellie and Katherine. A single father who lost his wife to cancer, he spoke frankly about the mission’s risk to his girls, telling them, “Here is where the will is, here’s where the trust documents are, and if anything happens to me, here’s what’s going to happen to you . . . that’s part of this life.”
The kits have a long history as a simple, non-tech way to anchor the space travelers to earth.
During Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong carried a tiny bit of wood and fabric from the Wright Flyer — the first powered heavier-than-air flying machine invented by the Wright brothers in 1903.
Michael Collins brought a small US flag, a District of Columbia flag and a US Air Force flag. Buzz Aldrin took communion on the Moon from a special kit.
NASA successfully launched the Artemis II mission Wednesday, marking the first crewed mission to the Moon’s vicinity since the Apollo — the twin brother of Artemis in Greek mythology — program ended in 1972.
The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Fla., sending the Orion crew capsule on a 10-day journey.
The Artemis II mission will test Orion spacecraft systems in deep space to pave the way for future lunar landings.
Artemis III is scheduled to further test out rendezvous systems with new lunar landers in 2027, while a moon landing is scheduled for 2028.
A manned Mars mission could follow by the late 2030s or early 2040s, according to NASA.
