Why Artemis II astronauts had to play game of cards before rocket launch
When it comes to a rocket launch, everything has to go absolutely perfectly for things to go ahead and apparently that includes a game of cards.
Yesterday's impressive launch of the Orion spacecraft saw the Artemis II astronauts head up into space, as they prepare to go further than anyone has ever gone before.
The 10-day mission will see them head to the moon for the first time in over 50 years and while they won't be stepping foot on its surface, as their Apollo predecessors did, but it could pave the way for huge advancements in the world of space travel.
Thankfully, last night's launch went ahead with perfect weather conditions, after some had raised concern about the danger of certain clouds and the possibility of lightning, but the weather wasn't the only thing that the astronauts needed to be 100 per cent before the history-making journey.
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As some of you might have seen on social media, the quartet of Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen enjoyed a quick game of cards before setting off on the mission, and it turns out that it's an age-honoured tradition.
NASA states: "A long-held spaceflight tradition, NASA crews play cards before leaving the crew quarters ahead of launch until the commander, in this instance NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, loses.
"It is hoped that by losing, the commander burns off all his or her bad luck, thereby clearing the mission for only good luck."
You can watch the moment here:
Perhaps the main question you might be asking after that is not why they're doing it, or why the commander is clearly destined to lose, but what on Earth they are playing?
I suppose it's difficult to rig pontoon or poker but the game certainly didn't look all that entertaining for anyone watching on. But who am I to argue with such as beloved NASA tradition.
Everyone will be keeping their fingers crossed that the mission goes smoothly, although they've already had a hiccup with the toilet on the spacecraft, so hopefully everything else goes as planned.
Either way, the astronauts will have already been treated to some pretty spectacular views on their way into space, with Christina Koch previously describing what it's like to see the Earth from above.
She said: "You see the thin blue line of the atmosphere, and then when you’re on the dark side of the Earth, you actually see this very thin green line that shows you where the atmosphere is.
"What you realise is every single person that you know is sustained and inside of that green line and everything else outside of it is completely inhospitable. You don’t see borders, you don’t see religious lines, you don’t see political boundaries.
"All you see is Earth and you see that we are way more alike than we are different."
Personal items Artemis II astronauts have brought with them
Commander Reid Wiseman
Wiseman, a US Navy test pilot-turned-astronaut, is a single parent who is raising his two teenage daughters alone after he sadly lost his wife to cancer in 2020.
He's spoken to his children about the risks of the mission, with him saying to them while out on a walk: "Here's where the will is, here's where the trust documents are, and if anything happens to me, here's what's going to happen to you… That's part of this life."
Wiseman said he planned on taking a small notepad so that he can jot down his thoughts during the mission.
Mission specialist Christina Koch
Koch, an engineer and physicist, is a woman who has made many incredible milestones in her life.
Not only has she set the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station in 2019, but she's also taken part in the first-ever all-female spacewalk. And now, she's the first woman to ever travel to the moon and venture into deep space.
Koch is taking handwritten notes from people close to her for her personal item, which she has described as a 'tactile connection' to loved ones back on Earth.
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen
This is the former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot and physicist's first time in space, making him the first Canadian to ever venture into deep space.
Hansen, who is married with three children, will carry four moon-shaped pendants for his wife and children, engraved with the phrase 'Moon and back' and set with their birthstones.
He will also be taking maple syrup and maple cookies on his lunar voyage, in true Canadian style.
Pilot Victor J Glover
Glover, a former US Navy fighter pilot and test pilot who became a NASA astronaut in 2013, is setting a milestone of his own by being the first ever Black person to travel to the moon.
He is married with four children, and served as pilot of NASA's SpaceX Crew 1 mission, as well as spending nearly six months on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64.
Already known as the most charismatic and 'sharply dressed' of the Artemis crew, Glover has said he will take on board with him a Bible, his wedding rings and family heirlooms, along with a collection of inspirational quotations compiled by Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart.
Topics: NASA
James Moorhouse