New Delhi, April 7 (IANS). Four astronauts associated with NASA’s Artemis II mission have left for the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft. This team will pass near the Moon and return without landing. In this first manned lunar mission since 1972, a small soft toy has accompanied the astronauts to help them. Its name is ‘Rise’, which is also the mascot of the mission that carries the emotions and dreams of millions of people across the world to the Moon. Artemis II was launched on April 2.
Actually ‘Rise’ is a zero-gravity indicator. Astronauts take a zero-gravity indicator with them on missions to know when the capsule has reached space. When the spacecraft leaves the Earth’s gravitational force, this indicator starts floating in the air, then it becomes known that the spacecraft is now in a vacuum. These objects often have deep symbolic meaning and are selected after careful consideration.
On March 28, Artemis II astronauts introduced RISE to the world and explained its importance. It was selected from thousands of entries received from more than 50 countries. However, NASA liked the design of Lucas (8), a third grade student from Mountain View city of California. The design pays homage to the famous ‘Earthrise’ moment of the Apollo 8 mission, which saw the Earth rise from space for the first time.
This design of Lucas was selected in NASA’s ‘Moon Mascot Design Challenge’. The challenge received more than 2,600 entries from more than 50 countries, including designs by school children. RISE is custom-built in the Thermal Blanket Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (Maryland). It is very light and soft, so that it can float easily in space.
Another special thing about Rise, which is going with this Artemis 2 mission to orbit the moon, is that an SD card has been kept inside it, in which 56,47,889 names of people from all over the world are recorded. These names were collected under the ‘Send Your Name with Artemis’ campaign. In this way, Rise is not only a toy, but has also become a symbol of hope and solidarity for the entire humanity.
The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission, Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hanson, have taken Rise with them on a trip to the Moon. While Christina Koch will be the first woman to be a part of a moon mission, Glover is the first black person to fly on a lunar mission.
During their mission, together they will conduct many experiments in high radiation areas, so that research on plants and human health can be furthered.
–IANS
MT/VC