Artemis II crew celebrates Easter. See their message to Earth.
Artemis II crew celebrates Easter. See their message to Earth.
Melina Khan, USA TODAYMon, April 6, 2026 at 12:35 PM UTC
0
The Artemis II crew celebrated Easter from space as they continue cracking on their historic mission to the far side of the moon.
Mission specialist Christina Koch revealed that she and her fellow crew members hid a few eggs around the cabin of the Orion spacecraft in honor of the holiday on Sunday, April 5.
"They were the dehydrated scrambled egg variety, but we're all pretty happy with them," she said.
Koch and the other Artemis II astronauts – NASA's Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover and Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen – launched into space on April 1 with the goal of being the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo missions ended more than five decades ago.
The crew is projected to reach the far side of the moon, which permanently faces away from Earth, on April 6, according to NASA. The astronauts are orbiting – not landing on – the moon during their 10-day mission.
1 / 0See photos from space during NASA's Artemis II mission so farArtemis II crew members Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover answer questions from reporters during the first downlink event of their mission.Artemis II crew sends message of 'universal love' on Easter
During NASA broadcasts on April 5, the Artemis II crew commemorated Easter with well-wishes for those on Earth.
"We were talking up here as a crew, and we wanted to send a special Easter message on this day," Hansen said. "And no matter your faith or religion, for me the teachings of Jesus were always a very simple truth of love — universal love. Love yourself and love others."
"And something for us, being up here and looking back at all of you through one tiny window — that just resonates 100 percent true," he continued. "And our goal as humanity should be to just follow in that example."
This screen grab from NASA's feed released on April 3, 2026, shows the four Artemis II crew members (L-R) Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist (hidden), NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot as they head to orbit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.
Koch recognized this time of year as one that "many religions and many cultures hold dear."
"It's a time of emotions such as joy as well as solemnness, honoring what's going on both in our world and in our religious beliefs," she said.
Advertisement
Glover also made Easter remarks in a clip shared during NASA's daily news conference on April 5.
"In all of this emptiness, this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe. You have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together," he said.
"I think as we go into Easter Sunday, thinking about, you know, all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not, this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing, and that we got to get through this together."
Artemis II crew hears message from Apollo astronaut
Also on Easter Sunday, the Artemis II crew awoke to a special message from Apollo 16 crew member Charlie Duke.
Duke and fellow Apollo 16 astronaut John Young landed on the moon in 1972 in a lunar module called Orion – the same moniker used for the Artemis II spacecraft.
"I'm glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the Moon as America charts the course to the lunar surface," Duke said.
The youngest person to walk the lunar surface, Duke left a photo of his family on the moon more than five decades ago.
"Below you on the Moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we and America and all of the world are cheering you on," he told the Artemis II crew.
Easter was also a special day for one Artemis II astronaut. Hansen, who is on his first flight to space, received his gold astronaut wings as part of NASA's long-standing tradition to award the pin to first-time spaceflight crew members.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Artemis II crew celebrates Easter from space. See how.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
