When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, Artemis 2 commander, gives NASA Flight Surgeon Richard Scheuring a hug next to a Navy MH-60 Seahawk from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 on the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha after splashdown, Friday, April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. | Credit: NASA/Bill IngallsReid Wiseman had one last decision to make before leaving his spacecraft post-splashdown: leave something behind in accordance with NASA’s post-splashdown checklist, or not?Reid Wiseman, the NASA Artemis 2 commander, was supposed to leave a little plushie moon toy — called Rise — for later retrieval from his Integrity Orion spacecraft. But after 10 days floating alongside the mascot to the moon and back again, Wiseman had a different thought about that procedure.AdvertisementAdvertisement”I was supposed to leave Rise in Integrity … but that was not something I was going to do,” Wiseman wrote on X on Saturday (April 11).Officially, Rise is a zero-gravity indicator created by Lucas Ye, a third grader from California. It’s a mini-moon, with an Earth-colored cap brimmed with stars. Inside the little toy are over 5 million names on an SD card, submitted by folks around the world looking to fly their monikers to the moon.Rise floated on camera in front of the crew after they reached space April 1, before the eyes of Wiseman, NASA’s Victor Glover, NASA’s Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen. But during the unfolding of the historical lunar flyby mission — the first human moon visit in nearly 54 years — Rise also became a symbol far beyond serving as a demonstration of when Integrity left Earth’s gravity.NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover arrive at Kennedy Space Center on March 27, 2026, carrying “Rise,” the zero-gravity indicator they took with them on their journey to the moon. | Credit: NASA/Brandon HancockMoon memorialCrew members often played with Rise during livestreamed conversations with Earth, and the toy also took over NASA’s social media streams mid-mission. But sharp-eyed folks on social media caught something very special in a …
