The four Artemis II astronauts bound for the Moon’s orbit each carry bags with things close to their hearts – a family Bible, love letters, a pencil with children’s birthstones.
Inside their cramped 33-cubic-foot Orion capsule, each astronaut was assigned a “personality kit” — just 5 inches by 2 inches and weighing no more than 3.3 pounds — to carry with them whatever was most important to maintaining morale and bringing a little luck into the void.
Before they left for their wonderful trip, the team members talked about their precious PPK content.
- Pilot Victor Glover, 49, a married father of four daughters, took heirloom wedding rings and inspirational quotes put together by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, according to BBC News.
- Missionary scholar Christina Koch, 47, who is married with no children, took handwritten notes to loved ones, calling them “touching communications” from loved ones back on Earth.
- Jeremy Hansen, a 50-year-old married father of three who is part of the Canadian Space Agency, packed a necklace with moon-shaped ornaments engraved with “Moon and Back,” with his family’s birthstones and names. He brought back maple syrup and maple cookies (not in the kit) to share with the other astronauts.
- Reid Wiseman, 50, a mission commander, brought a small notebook to record his thoughts about his two teenage daughters, Ellie and Katherine. A single father who lost his wife to cancer, spoke frankly about the danger of these machines to his girls, saying to them, “Here is the will, here are the trust deeds, and if anything happens to me, this is what will happen to you . . .”
Kits have a long history as a simple, non-technical way to land astronauts on Earth.
During Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong carried a small piece of wood and fabric from the Wright Flyer – the first wind-powered 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 a meal to the Moon in a special kit.
NASA successfully launched the Artemis II mission on Wednesday, marking the first manned mission to the Moon since Apollo – the twin of Artemis in Greek mythology – ended in 1972.
The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket lifted off at 6:35 pm ET from Cape Canaveral, Fla., sending the Orion crew capsule on a 10-day journey.
The Artemis II mission will test the Orion spacecraft systems in deep space to pave the way for future moon landings.
Artemis III is scheduled to continue testing lunar rendezvous programs in 2027, with a lunar landing planned for 2028.
A manned mission to Mars could follow in the late 2030s or early 2040s, according to NASA.
