California Boy’s Plush Toy Joins Artemis II Crew as Zero Gravity Indicator

Artemis II launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, carrying a unique passenger: a stuffed toy named “Rise,” designed by eight-year-old Lucas Ye of Mountain View, California. The toy will serve as the mission’s official zero gravity indicator, floating to signal when the astronauts have entered weightlessness.

Lucas Ye was selected as the winner of an international design competition organized by the crowdsourcing platform Freelancer, which drew more than 2,600 entries from over 50 countries. As part of his prize, Ye traveled to the launch at Kennedy Space Center with his family.

“Rise” takes inspiration from the iconic ‘Earthrise’ photograph shot during Apollo 8, featuring a round moon figure wearing a baseball cap decorated with an image of Earth on top and constellations on the brim. The cap’s back displays an imprint of Neil Armstrong’s boot from the Apollo 11 mission, while the constellation Orion—paying tribute to the Artemis II mission—is embroidered on the rim. Lucas expressed his excitement about his design’s journey to space, calling himself “really, really, really, really, really, really, really surprised and very happy.”

NASA has a longstanding tradition of launching plush toys as zero gravity indicators, dating back to the Vostok 1 mission in 1961. Recent missions have featured characters like Snoopy and Baby Yoda in similar roles.

The Artemis II mission’s judging panel included Cmdr. Reid Wiseman and selected Lucas’s concept from a shortlist of entries from students in several countries. The 10-day mission aims to perform a lunar flyby, with splashdown scheduled for April 10 off the coast of San Diego. As of now, Artemis II and its human and plush crew are on course, with the moon flyby expected Monday morning.