Lucas Ye, 8, designed a plush toy named ‘Rise’, which is accompanying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen on their Artemis II Moon mission. The second grader’s white Moon plush toy wears an Earth Cap with a brim that highlights the galaxy, including the constellation Orion and rockets.
Can you imagine how thrilled Lucas was when his design for the Moon mascot plush toy, ‘Rise’, was chosen to accompany the astronauts to the Moon? His design was inspired by the famous Earthrise photo taken on the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.
Fist bump, Rise!
Very emotional moment zipping up Rise, knowing we are bringing 5,647,889 names with us on this journey around the Moon. For all!
People from around the world submitted their names through the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign.
These names were downloaded… pic.twitter.com/gKxvrHw7M0
— Reid Wiseman (@astro_reid) March 29, 2026
According to Freelancer, the freelancing marketplace company that sponsored the mascot search, Rise was chosen from 2,600 entries from more than 50 countries to be the official Moon mascot for the NASA Artemis II mission.
Meanwhile, NASA Artemis shared a video where Lucas broke down each element of his plush toy design on X (formerly Twitter).
California student Lucas Ye describes how he felt when he found out his submission won the Moon Mascot contest to design the zero gravity indicator for the Artemis II mission. pic.twitter.com/pEPPsygz8V
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 1, 2026
“It’s representing Earthrise, taken by Apollo 8 [astronaut] William Anders. The cap is representing Earth and Earthrise. The visor is representing the two past and future Moon missions. The constellation Orion represents Artemis II. The Moon, which has a tiny footprint on the back, is representing the past Apollo mission,” 8-year-old Lucas from Mountain View, California, explained.
MEET “RISE” – THE CUTEST PASSENGER HEADING TO THE MOON
NASA’s Artemis II crew revealed “Rise,” a plush moon that will float once the spacecraft hits zero gravity.
The design came from a third-grade student and includes nods to Apollo, Orion, and the iconic “Earthrise” photo.… https://t.co/ONy5z3iGUs pic.twitter.com/8uESvtbjuz
— NewsForce (@Newsforce) March 31, 2026
Lucas’s Rise plush toy was introduced by Koch, one of the Artemis II astronauts and a mission specialist, in a ceremony held at Kennedy Space Center on March 27, 2026.
“This little guy, Rise, really resonated with us, because the theme is actually the Earthrise photo taken on Apollo 8, which is inspirational to all of us,” Koch said. “It is a mission that sort of mirrors our own, and we’ve incorporated it into our mission patch and also into our ethos and values as a crew, so, welcome aboard, Rise.”
As noted by ABC News, this isn’t the first time astronauts have taken a selection of fun zero-gravity indicators, including a “Baby Yoda” and a Snoopy toy.
Meanwhile, Lucas is a huge fan of space exploration. “I like space. I like rockets, like NASA, like the solar system. I like studying about space,” he said.
After his thrilling win, Lucas is no doubt following every moment of the Artemis II Moon mission, hopefully seeing video footage of Rise taking off in zero gravity.
