A “download” will never happen. But the “joy of the month” can be.
NASA began using the term “lunar excitement” across its social media accounts as the Artemis II crew approached the moon this week. Now the agency has gone all in with the description of NASA’s official account on X, and the ideal photo – its lunar enthusiasts look as attractive as the first four in space – leading to a video of happy moments of the moon.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. Either it is loading or it has already been downloaded.
“The feeling of great joy and excitement that only comes from a mission to the moon” is how NASA describes moon excitement (which sounds like it should be one word, but we’ll wait for the official ruling from the AP Stylebook).
This word is used several times throughout Artemis II’s campaign. The first use NASA posted was Sunday, April 5: a clip of a mission controller calmly responding to a flurry of excited identifications of lunar sites from astronaut Reid Wiseman aboard Orion.
“Copy,” mission control said with a laugh. “Moon happiness.”
This Tweet is currently unavailable. Either it is loading or it has already been downloaded.
One commentator on X called the speech “a very low-key response to astronauts losing their minds over seeing the moon up close for the first time.” (Reminiscent of this classic 1969 moon landing story from The Onion — which contains a mission control script that appears to be close to how the Apollo crew would be they would have expressed his joy of the month if they had not been so looked down upon professionally.)
NASA knows a good meme when it sees one. When the astronauts were awakened on Monday, mission control told them, “Our room is filled with the joy of the moon.” When the Artemis II astronauts watched the eclipse that same day, it also qualified as a lunar eclipse – because the eclipse was the only one they could see.
Mashable Light Speed
This Tweet is currently unavailable. Either it is loading or it has already been downloaded.
Lunar excitement is contagious, it turns out — even reaching astronauts aboard the International Space Station, according to NASA’s live broadcast of a call to the spacecraft between Orion and the ISS.
“We can tell you guys are enjoying the moon,” Jessica Meir, mission commander for ISS Crew-12, told the Artemis II crew, “and I feel like we’re enjoying the moon right now.”
The joy of the ISS moon is expressed, according to Meir, in a mysterious jape.
As Orion set a new record for the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth on Monday, its crew went to the edge of the station to tell them they were the furthest humans ever. see at that time – probably since the ISS was on the other side of the Earth at that time.
Even Rise, the official mascot of Artemis II’s mission, got in on the happy moon meme on Wednesday, answering the perfect phrase for a Hollywood-made good character.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. Either it is loading or it has already been downloaded.
Of course, NASA couldn’t make the moon’s excitement happen alone. Fortunately, back on Earth, the joy of the moon is already a thing – because strangely, and unlike download The girls saiddoes not occur in space.
We noted an unusually united, unabashed response to last week’s launch of Artemis II. That feeling of wonder and joy has only grown, and #moonjoy it has become i A good hashtag for an equally bad year.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. Either it is loading or it has already been downloaded.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. Either it is loading or it has already been downloaded.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. Either it is loading or it has already been downloaded.
How long the moon excitement lasts, and whether it will stay with us for NASA’s planned moon landing in 2028, is anyone’s guess. But this week at least, it was something real and universal – and that, in itself, is a great download.
Elisha Sauers contributed to this report.
