Over 50 years after the Apollo era, NASA is heading back toward the Moon. Artemis II will send four astronauts around the Moon and back — they won’t land but will travel deeper into space than humans have before.
They won’t be alone. Rise, a round white plush dubbed the mission’s “celestial buddy” or moon mascot, will accompany the crew. Rise was designed by 8-year-old Lucas Ye of California. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen has been pictured holding Rise (credit: NASA).
Rise serves as the official Zero Gravity Indicator for Artemis II. The toy is white and wears a hat featuring Earth; the brim is decorated with galaxies and rockets. As a Zero-G indicator, Rise will signal to the crew when they have left Earth’s gravity behind.
Plush passengers on past space missions:
– Rise: Artemis II’s official Zero-G indicator, designed by Lucas Ye.
– Baby Yoda: Rode along as a Zero-G indicator on SpaceX’s first operational commercial crew mission to the ISS in 2020.
– Snoopy: NASA’s beloved mascot since 1968, part of the Manned Flight Awareness (now Space Flight Awareness) program, and a Zero-G indicator on Artemis I.
– Shaun the Sheep: Also aboard Artemis I; Shaun began astronaut-training outreach with the Orion spacecraft and its European Service Module in 2020, traveling across Europe and the US.
– Tremor the Dinosaur: A blue-and-pink sequined dinosaur that served as the Zero-G indicator on SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2 in 2020.
The Zero-G indicator tradition dates to 1961, when Yuri Gagarin brought a small doll on Vostok 1. Since then, plush toys have floated through space to mark weightlessness and add a playful touch to historic missions.
