<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 successfully landed in the Indian Ocean with an intact heat shield, a major milestone for the company as it looks to put men back on the moon.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead of hitting the water with a fireball, as in previous flights, the rocket flipped into its vertical landing position and touched down in the Indian Ocean before falling over and floating on top of the water.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That is a first,” Dan Huot, communications manager for SpaceX, said during the livestream. “That is the softest splashdown we have ever had with the Starship there in the Indian Ocean.”</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the 13th flight test of Starship! <a href="https://t.co/g27YJCQgiN">pic.twitter.com/g27YJCQgiN</a></p>
<p>— SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://x.com/SpaceX/status/2080804682918764619?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The July 24 flight was the second test of Starship’s V3 rocket and the first flight to deploy Starlink V3 satellites, </span><a href="https://www.spacex.com/launches/starship-flight-13"><span style="font-weight: 400;">according</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to SpaceX’s website. SpaceX originally planned the test flight for July 16 but aborted just before the launch after some of the engines failed to start.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the first test of the V3, the rocket hit the Indian Ocean with a planned explosion. This time, the rocket bobbed gently in the water while waiting for the recovery team.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The landing was so successful that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said SpaceX might try to catch the rocket on the next test flight.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Unless we discover problems after mission data review, SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower on next flight,” Musk said on X.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Cameras on Starship continued sending video of the rocket after landing and provided views of the rocket’s heat shield, which was mostly intact.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is the first time we’ve put an intact Starship in the water,” Huot said on the livestream. “This is a dream scenario for the team that’s trying to get this heat shield data.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Musk highlighted an X post showing the progress the company has made with the heat shield in four test flights.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Latest heat shield design looks great!” Musk said on X.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Latest heat shield design looks great! <a href="https://t.co/PitlHFwilp">https://t.co/PitlHFwilp</a></p>
<p>— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2080817350069084561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 25, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman celebrated Flight 13’s successful launch.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Excited for what will be learned from this mission,” Isaacman wrote on X. “When Starship comes online, its capabilities will be game-changing, not least of which will be ensuring we never give up the Moon again!”</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pretty clear from this shot that <a href="https://x.com/SpaceX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SpaceX</a> knows where we are going! Congrats on getting Flight 13 underway. Excited for what will be learned from this mission. When Starship comes online, its capabilities will be game-changing, not least of which will be ensuring we never give up… <a href="https://t.co/aTSUCqUPcB">https://t.co/aTSUCqUPcB</a></p>
<p>— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) <a href="https://x.com/NASAAdmin/status/2080794963596726670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 24, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The successful flight is a major milestone for SpaceX as it prepares for NASA’s Artemis III mission. NASA partnered with SpaceX to create a version of Starship to take astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon, </span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/reference/human-landing-systems-2/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">according</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to NASA’s website.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This was the first test flight since SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took the company public in the </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-becomes-first-trillionaire-after-spacex-ipo"><span style="font-weight: 400;">largest</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> initial public offering in history.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Lucky Number 13,” Huot said. “Hell of a flight for Starship.”</span></p>


SpaceX Starship Flight 13: Ship 40 And Booster 20 Launch From Starbase

SEE IT: Elon Musk’s SpaceX Shocks With ‘Softest Splashdown ever’ Of Rocket Into Ocean

Air and Space

Rockets

Space

SpaceX

<div>Scientists have cracked one of physics&#8217; most tantalizing puzzles — and the answer keeps better time than anything humanity has ever built.</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">As New Scientist <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2530094-first-working-nuclear-clock-heralds-a-new-era-in-timekeeping/">reports</a>, after two decades of chasing a dream, researchers at Vienna&#8217;s Center for Quantum Science and Technology have <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.04997">built</a> the world&#8217;s first working nuclear clock, and it&#8217;s already hunting for the invisible dark matter that makes up 80% of the universe. A separate team at China&#8217;s Tsinghua University independently <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.08870">pulled off the same feat</a>, with results so sharp that fractional frequency instability approaches one part in 10 trillion after a single day of operation.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">&#8220;It&#8217;s the culmination of 15 to 20 years of research,&#8221; said Thorsten Schumm, the Vienna physicist who led his team&#8217;s effort. &#8220;Very few researchers actually see their dream become true.&#8221;</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">So what&#8217;s the big deal? Your phone, your GPS, the internet — they all run on atomic clocks, which track time by counting how electrons jump between energy levels inside atoms. Those clocks are already jaw-dropping. But the new nuclear clock uses something far more powerful: the vibrations <em>inside</em> the atomic nucleus itself, driven by the same force that holds protons and neutrons together.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">The key ingredient is thorium-229, a radioactive element with a freakish property — its nucleus can be tickled into jumping energy levels using an ordinary ultraviolet laser, something no other known nucleus can do. The Vienna team embedded thorium crystals in calcium fluoride and bathed them in laser light, creating a timekeeping &#8220;tick&#8221; of almost unimaginable regularity.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">Why does this shake up physics? Because the nucleus is shielded from the electromagnetic chaos that rattles electron-based clocks. That isolation makes the nuclear clock exquisitely sensitive to the fundamental forces of nature — and whether those forces are truly constant or slowly drifting over cosmic time. If the fine-structure constant or the strong nuclear force has shifted even a hair since the Big Bang, a nuclear clock will catch it.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">The device is already delivering results. The Viennese team used their clocks to search for ultralight dark matter — theoretical particles that would cause tiny, periodic wobbles in the thorium nuclear frequency. No dark matter showed up in the first sweep, but the sensitivity already matches the world&#8217;s best atomic clocks.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">Unlike atomic clocks that require near-absolute-zero temperatures and elaborate vacuum chambers, the nuclear clock runs at room temperature. &#8220;It&#8217;s really the most simple thing you can imagine,&#8221; Schumm said.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">Future versions could be miniaturized, deployed on satellites, used to map Earth&#8217;s gravitational field with centimeter precision, and potentially redefine the official global standard for one second itself.</p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="font-claude-response-body">The universe has been keeping secrets for 13.8 billion years. This clock just started <a href="https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nuclear-clocks.html">asking questions</a>.</p>
</div>


Time travel, conceptual illustration

Scientists Just Built The Most Accurate Clock In History. The Universe May Reveal Its Secrets.

Nuclear Clock

TIME

universe

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Tuesday, NASA announced the four men set to embark on a low-Earth orbit test flight in the next step toward America&#8217;s goal to once again set foot on the moon. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NASA selected Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, Luca Parmitano, and Randy Bresnik for Artemis III. The four men will train for a year and a half, a shorter time than the Artemis II crew’s training, which was three years. Bresnik was designated as the commander, and Douglass and Rubio are the mission specialists. Parmitano — an Italian from the European Space Agency — is the pilot.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the crowd applauded the men, Douglas shouted “Mom, thank you so much for believing in me.&#8221; </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For the Artemis III mission, the crew will be traveling in an Orion capsule for about two weeks, which is roughly the size of two minivans. The four crew members will undergo training to establish relational-bonds and teamwork. <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-iii/">According to NASA</a>, the mission&#8217;s goal is to &#8220;carry out a series of objectives designed to demonstrate critical systems needed for a future lunar landing.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Space Launch System rocket, carrying the Orion spacecraft, hopes to launch the crew members from NASA&#8217;s Kennedy Space Center by late 2027. The Orion spacecraft is a major step for NASA towards exploration on the Moon and, eventually, Mars.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Parmitano represents the European agency, beginning his career as “a test pilot and then colonel with the Italian Air Force.” <a href="https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/ESA_astronaut_Luca_Parmitano_joins_NASA_s_Artemis_III_mission_as_pilot">In 2007</a>, he was selected by the Italian Air Force to be a test pilot, training as an &#8220;Experimental Test Pilot at EPNER, the French test pilot school in Istres.&#8221; Promoted to colonel in the Italian Air Force, he logged over 2,000 hours of flight time. He also qualified for over 20 types of military airplanes and helicopters, flying over 40 types of aircraft. He has previously spent 366 days in space across two missions to the International Space Station and Volare and Beyond.  </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/people/randolph-komrade-bresnik/">Bresnik,</a> the oldest member of the crew, started working with NASA in 2004, and is the only crew member who flew on a space shuttle before the vehicles retired. Bresnik has a military career, commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1989. He also attended U.S. Naval Test Pilot&#8217;s School, becoming an F/A-18 Test Pilot and was deployed to Kuwait, flying combat missions. Along with being a veteran of the Space Shuttle mission STS-129, Bresnik served as &#8220;Commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 53 and flight engineer for Expedition 52&#8221; with over 32 hours of Spacewalk experience. Bresnik also has over 3,600 hours in spacecraft. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/people/nasa-astronaut-andre-douglas/">Douglas has a</a> bachelor&#8217;s degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a master&#8217;s degree in mechanical engineering from University of Michigan, along with a degree in electrical and computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate in systems engineering from George Washington University. He also was a &#8220;naval architect, salvage engineer, damage control assistant, and officer of the deck&#8221; while serving the U.S. Coast Guard.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When Douglas was selected in 2021 to join NASA&#8217;s Astronaut Candidate Class, he was a &#8220;senior professional staff member at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (APL) working on maritime robotics, planetary defense, and space exploration missions.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/people/frank-rubio/">Rubio graduated</a> from the U.S. Military Academy in 1998, and received a Doctorate of Medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2010. He also served in the U.S. Army as an aviator and a physician for over 28 years. An Army Aviator, Rubio flew more than 1,100 hours, which includes over 600 hours of &#8220;combat and imminent danger time&#8221; as a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot. He is board-certified as a &#8220;family physician and flight surgeon.&#8221; </span>When Rubio was selected by NASA in 2017, he was serving in the 3rd Battalion of the 10th Special Forces Group.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rubio spent 371 days in space, the longest continuous stay in space by a NASA astronaut, due to traveling to the International Space Station where a coolant leak occurred. Rubio had travelled in a Russian Soyuz capsule, docked to the space station, and, instead of staying there six months, had to wait for a replacement Soyuz to come for over a year. </span></p>


US-SPACE-NASA-ARTEMIS III

NASA Announces Crew For Next Phase Of Its Moon Mission

Artemis II

Moon

NASA

<p><em>This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.</em></p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Artemis II pilot Victor Glover went a long way — 252,756 miles, to be exact — to make an impression, and boy, did he ever make one. A devout Christian, Glover praised God from the heavens as he and his compatriots completed their lunar mission — and his faith resonated in shockwaves back on Earth.</p>
<p>While many are accustomed to watching celebrities or sports figures answer victory — and sometimes defeat — with prayer and a call to glorify God in all things, those words are more striking when they come from scientists because so often culture teaches us that science and faith must be at odds with each other.</p>
<p>But Glover says otherwise, loudly and boldly — and when he&#8217;s given a microphone, even hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth, he says it again.</p>
<p>The naval test pilot holds three master&#8217;s degrees in flight and engineering fields, and he explained in a 2023 <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-artemis-ii-pilot-victor-glover-reframes-race-question.html">interview</a> that his faith feeds his academic and career pursuits.</p>
<p>&#8220;My career is fed by my faith. Anytime I do something that’s pretty risky, I pray. Before I fly, every time I fly. Definitely when you go sit on top of a rocket ship,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In the military, there’s a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. There aren’t any on top of rockets, either.&#8221;</p>
<p>Throughout Artemis II&#8217;s mission, Glover took every opportunity to share his faith — particularly in the context of God&#8217;s creation, to which he&#8217;d just been given a front-row seat.</p>
<p>On Easter Sunday, he gave an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/artemis-ii-pilot-pauses-during-lunar-mission-to-deliver-powerful-easter-message">impromptu speech</a> from aboard the Orion capsule.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨 JUST IN: Artemis II pilot Victor Glover just gave this BEAUTIFUL Easter message</p>
<p>&#8220;So far from Earth, looking at the BEAUTY of creation.&#8221;</p>
<p>“When I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us&#8230;this amazing place.&#8221; ❤️🙏🏻<a href="https://t.co/cjZscnGz2A">pic.twitter.com/cjZscnGz2A</a></p>
<p>— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2040566651788157186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&#8220;You know, when I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us, who were created, it’s — you have this amazing place, this spaceship, you guys are talking to us because we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth,&#8221; Glover said, adding, &#8220;You’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos. Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you, and I’m trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Just before they circled around the moon and lost contact with Mission Control, Glover once again took the microphone and brought the conversation back to his faith: &#8220;Christ said in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all that you are &#8230; He said the second &#8230; that is to love your neighbor as yourself.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">JUST IN: Astronaut Victor Glover shares the Gospel from Artemis II before losing communication.</p>
<p>&#8220;Christ said in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all that you are.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;He said the second &#8230; that is to love your neighbor as yourself.&#8221;</p>
<p>The… <a href="https://t.co/9xErKPxmQU">pic.twitter.com/9xErKPxmQU</a></p>
<p>— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/2041296734312423857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>When the crew finally splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, marking the end of their lunar mission, Glover&#8217;s first public comments were once again rooted in his faith: &#8220;I wanted to thank God in public, and I want to thank God again, because even bigger than my challenge trying to describe what we went through, the gratitude of seeing what we saw, doing what we did, and being with who I was with — it&#8217;s too big to just be in one body.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨 WOW! Artemis II pilot Victor Glover spreads the gospel after a safe return home from space</p>
<p>This dude is a MASTERCLASS!</p>
<p>&#8220;I wanted to thank God in public, and I want to thank God again, because even bigger than my challenge trying to describe what we went through, the… <a href="https://t.co/VnCljIxdqX">pic.twitter.com/VnCljIxdqX</a></p>
<p>— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2043079388887953721?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 11, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>When Glover was granted a hero&#8217;s welcome at home, his thoughts remained on shining the light outward. &#8220;Some of us have never met before. And you know whose fault that is? Ours. So let&#8217;s choose to do this. Let&#8217;s be this more. Let&#8217;s be neighbors,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know if you heard me say it, but God told us to love Him with all that we are and love our neighbors as ourselves.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">NEW: Astronaut Victor Glover shares the gospel to a crowd who welcomed him back home to Houston, Texas.</p>
<p>People were seen lining the streets to welcome Glover back home.</p>
<p>“Some of us have never met before. And you know whose fault that is? Ours. So let&#8217;s choose to do this. Let&#8217;s… <a href="https://t.co/xMLozkJtLr">pic.twitter.com/xMLozkJtLr</a></p>
<p>— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinRugg/status/2043704154120724796?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>The response was overwhelming: People everywhere heard him, and they loved what they heard.</p>
<p>&#8220;Loves Jesus. Loves his wife. Loves his daughters. Literally new fav astronaut,&#8221; commentator and Daily Wire contributor Elisha Krauss <a href="https://x.com/ElishaKrauss/status/2043513849769574698">posted</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s really beautiful to see someone in the government, in the military, and most definitely in the public eye giving glory to God for a mighty achievement. Our society needs so much more of this,&#8221; another <a href="https://x.com/CynicalPublius/status/2043396363002765561">responded</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Victor Glover is currently my favorite American,&#8221; journalist Olivia Rondeau <a href="https://x.com/rondeaulivia/status/2043405151730643408">added</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;No need to send poets to the Moon, we have NASA Astronaut Victor Glover,&#8221; someone else <a href="https://x.com/OwenSparks/status/2041273387801030964">observed</a>.</p>
<p>But Glover himself said it best: &#8220;We need Jesus — whether on Earth or circling the moon.&#8221;</p>


US-SPACE-ARTEMIS II-NASA

Artemis II Pilot Gets A Front-Row Seat To The Universe And Then Points Straight To God

Faith

Religion

Upstream

victor glover

WATCH LIVE: Artemis II Astronauts Safely Recovered From Capsule, Airlifted To Ship

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Updates from Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed moon mission in over 50 years, range from </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-shares-first-photo-taken-from-far-side-of-moon"><span style="font-weight: 400;">extraordinary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to </span><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bright-spot-artemis-ii-crew-names-moon-feature-after-mission-commanders-late-wife"><span style="font-weight: 400;">heartwarming</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Now, everyone following along at home has a way to feel a little closer to the brave crew embarking on a new era of space exploration: a morning playlist.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NASA shared a </span><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0WO94bzZeuUun777vv6UJu?si=Nhmsvj9ZTMCW7zEJfTJ4pg&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=897c28d3abb04eda"><span style="font-weight: 400;">link to the playlist</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> on Spotify yesterday, noting that the selections were picked by the astronauts and continue in a long tradition of playlists.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Artemis II Wake-Up Songs” include: </span></p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Sleepyhead&#8221; by Young &amp; Sick</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Green Light (feat. André 3000)&#8221; by John Legend and André 3000</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;In a Daydream&#8221; by Freddy Jones Band</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Pink Pony Club&#8221; by Chappell Roan</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Working Class Heroes (Work)&#8221; by CeeLo Green</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Good Morning&#8221; by Mandisa and TobyMac</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Tokyo Drifting&#8221; by Glass Animals and Denzel Curry</span></li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Under Pressure&#8221; by Queen and David Bowie</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Artemis II began its 10-day moon mission on April 1 with a crew including commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. This mission took them further away from Earth than any manned spacecraft has gone before, reaching a maximum distance from Earth of 252,756 miles.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Colin Fries of the NASA History Division first </span><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/wakeup-calls.pdf#:~:text=Use%20of%20music%20to%20awaken%20astronauts%20on,allowed%20outside%20interests%20to%20influence%20the%20process."><span style="font-weight: 400;">compiled a record</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of NASA playlists in 2015, noting public interest in what the astronauts were listening to.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;There have always been inquiries about flown items and mission events as we all know, and those about wakeup calls and music played in space encompassed a steady stream (no pun intended)!&#8221; he wrote at the time.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fries included a letter from NASA’s acting director in 1990, Lynn W. Heninger, to Congressman Robert H. Michel.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;Use of music to awaken astronauts on space missions dates back at least to the Apollo Program, when astronauts returning from the Moon were serenaded by their colleagues in mission control with lyrics from popular songs that seemed appropriate to the occasion,” Heninger wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;The common element of all these selections is that they promote a sense of camaraderie and esprit de corps among the astronauts and ground support personnel. That, in fact, is the sole reason for having wake-up music; and it is the reason that NASA management has neither attempted to dictate its content nor allowed outside interests to influence the process.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Apollo 10 song list in 1969 included Tony Bennett’s &#8220;The Best Is Yet To Come&#8221; and Sinatra’s &#8220;It&#8217;s Nice to Go Trav&#8217;ling&#8221; and &#8220;Come Fly With Me.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Several missions chose Dean Martin&#8217;s &#8220;Houston&#8221; for their last day in space, which includes the repeating lyric &#8220;Goin&#8217; back to Houston” and conveys a sense of longing for home and comfort. So far, NASA has not revealed the last day playlist for Artemis II.</span></p>


FD07_for photo tv

Wake Up Like An Astronaut: Artemis II Playlist Just Dropped

General

Outer Space

U.S.

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman said it was a “surreal” and inspiring experience to be completely cut off from Earth for about 40 minutes while the Orion spacecraft rounded the far side of the Moon.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wiseman made the comments during a media call from space on Wednesday night as he and his fellow astronauts continued their journey back to Earth. During their record-breaking journey around the Moon on Tuesday, communications were temporarily lost when the Moon blocked radio signals between Orion and NASA. The communication disruption was expected.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I&#8217;m actually getting chills right now,” Wiseman told reporters. “My palms are sweating, but it is amazing to watch your home planet disappear behind the Moon.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He described watching Earth gradually vanish from view as the spacecraft moved along the Moon&#8217;s far side.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&#8220;You could see the atmosphere, you could actually see the terrain in the Moon, projected across the Earth as the Earth was eclipsing behind the Moon. It was really, it was just an unbelievable sight. And then it was gone.”</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">LIVE: Artemis II astronauts answer media questions as they continue their journey toward Earth following their record-breaking lunar flyby. <a href="https://t.co/iAN74RMaRk">https://t.co/iAN74RMaRk</a></p>
<p>— NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/2042071557938323456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Communication was restored once Orion emerged from behind the Moon.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After regaining contact, Wiseman said the crew paused briefly to take in the moment before continuing their scientific observations. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We shared maple cookies that [astronaut Jeremy Hansen] had brought, and we took about three or four minutes, just as a crew, to really reflect on where we were, and then it was right back into the science,” he said. “And it is a surreal feeling, but we had a lot of work to do, too, and I think that kept our focus.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wiseman also reflected on an emotional moment during the mission, when the crew named a lunar crater after his late wife, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">That moment came shortly after the astronauts surpassed the distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We all pretty much broke down right there, and just for me personally, that was kind of the pinnacle moment of the mission for me,” Wiseman said. “That was, I think, where the four of us were the most forged, the most bonded, and we came out of that really focused on that day ahead.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Orion spacecraft is expected to splash down Friday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at around 8:07 p.m. EST. </span></p>


MixCollage-09-Apr-2026-09-38-AM-5832

The ‘Surreal’ Moment Artemis II Lost All Contact With Earth

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ignore those who are preaching doom. America rocks.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">America is experiencing a totally exceptional moment.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This country just kicks ass.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are sending human beings around the moon for the first time in decades.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are performing some of the most extraordinary military operations in all of human history, killing terrorists, delivering the most targeted strikes from the most sophisticated weaponry ever built.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are rescuing pilots in Mission: Impossible-style operations.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2402-sub?elementPosition=3&amp;row=5&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">On Monday, the Artemis II astronauts made history by traveling farther than any human being has ever gone.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/science/space-astronomy/artemis-astronauts-are-going-where-no-human-has-gone-before-99962e92"><span style="font-weight: 400;">According</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to The Wall Street Journal:</span></p>
<blockquote><p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just before 2 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, the astronauts on Artemis II steered their Orion craft into the record books, flying more than 248,655 miles from Earth, which is the furthest that human beings have ever gone.</span></i></p></blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Human beings are doing unbelievable things because America kicks absolute ass.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">President Trump called the Artemis crew to congratulate them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Tell me, what is the most unforgettable part of this really historic day?” he asked. “The whole world is watching and listening. Please tell me.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Mr. President, this call is certainly special to all of us, and we really have a lot of faith in our administrator, Jared Isaacman, who is with you,”  Commander Reid Wiseman responded.</span><b> “</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">We appreciate his leadership in NASA and in the international community. We are doing great things and we are proud to be a part of &#8230; I have to tell you, as we came around the near side of the moon, seeing all the sights that we&#8217;ve seen from Earth for all of our lives, but we&#8217;re seeing them from a different perspective, and then we started to get a glimpse of the &#8230;  And we saw sights, oriental sights that no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo, and that was amazing for us. And then the surprise of the day: We just came out of an eclipse where the sun, moon and the entire dark moon, about that big, right out the window that we were watching, we could see the corona of the sun, and then we could see the planet train line up, and then Mars, and all of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation and this planet become a two-planet species.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">America rocks.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And you know what? It&#8217;s part and parcel of an inspiring vision for the United States. I know we don&#8217;t talk about the United States that way, or haven&#8217;t in recent years, but America is an unbelievably inspiring place.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That&#8217;s the reason why everyone is clamoring to get here, not just because we can put human beings 250,000 miles away going around the moon, but also because when people come here, they are inspired to create and to build and to build better lives for themselves and their families.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It’s because the American system offers them that opportunity, and because America is, in fact, the guarantor of security on planet Earth. It’s because the United States, the same United States that takes humans and puts them 250,000 miles away around the moon, is the same United States that stands up to the thuggish, theocratic tyrants in Iran who want to develop nuclear weapons and develop into intercontinental ballistic missiles, and who wish to spread terrorism all over the region against us and our allies.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We stand up to them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What President Trump is providing is an inspiring vision of what the United States should be.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And guess what? We are making it happen in real time.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The president has provided the Iranian regime an off-ramp over and over and over and over again. This is the part that everyone seems to just ignore: If Iran did not wish to be in the gun sights of the United States military, all they would have to do is stop developing nuclear weapons, stop developing long-range ballistic missiles, and stop funding terrorism.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That is all they would have to do. That&#8217;s it. And they could have done this at any time for 47 years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They could have done this at any time. They would have been reintegrated into the world economy. They would have been treated as a member of the family of nations. Their concerns would have been heard.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, they decided that they were going to double down on their theocratic tyranny, that they were going to rush toward a nuclear weapon, that they were going to back every major terrorist group in the region and beyond.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They decided to do that. That was their decision.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The difference now is that </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">this</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> president understands that it is not in the interest of the United States to allow that cancer to fester, that the gangrenous limb that is the Iranian cannot be allowed to poison the entire region and beyond.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That&#8217;s why the president took the stand that he is taking right now.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And guess what? We are kicking the hell out of the Iranian military. We are. There is no standard in military history by which we are not kicking the hell out of them. We have put their entire navy underwater. We have taken their entire air force out of the sky. We have taken their ballistic missile launcher capacity to near zero. We have destroyed their steel factories. We have been hitting specific Basij checkpoints in Tehran. We&#8217;ve been bombing every nuclear facility we can find. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And still, President Trump is offering them an off-ramp; all they would have to do is open the Strait of Hormuz and give up their nukes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Do it, and we’re done. The war would be over. That&#8217;s all.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They won&#8217;t do it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ask yourself: Why? We would give them a permanent cease-fire if they opened up the Strait of Hormuz and gave up their nukes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">They won&#8217;t do it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And the reason they won&#8217;t do it is because they must terrorize their people. They must rush toward a nuclear weapon to preserve their tyrannical regime, and they must harass the countries around them to gain power. They have regional ambitions not restricted to Iran in their philosophy.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This notion that radical Islam is restricted to a small portion of the world, that if only we would leave them alone, they would leave us alone, ignores the entire history of radical Islam going back roughly 1300 years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">President Trump was asked if God supports the United States’ actions.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I do, because God is good, and because God is good and God wants to see people taken care of, God doesn&#8217;t like what&#8217;s happening,” he said of the violence perpetrated by the Iranian regime against their own people. “I don&#8217;t like what&#8217;s happening. Everyone says I enjoy (waging war)? I don&#8217;t enjoy this.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When the president says that he thinks that God supports the United States as we take out tyrannical dictators, when we kill Ayatollah Khomeini, a mass murderer, when we try to destroy the forward function of terror groups, he is correct.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">We are a great and moral nation. Whether it’s going farther than Man has ever gone before or removing evil from the world’s midst, we are a unique force in world history.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And Americans should feel justly proud of that.</span></p>


President Trump Attends Opening Night Of Chicago At The Kennedy Center

Note To America Haters: Sorry, We’re Busy Kicking Ass

Donald Trump

Iran

Middle East

U.S. Military

<p>An apparently random occurrence aboard the Orion spacecraft quickly resulted in an &#8220;out of this world&#8221; ad campaign for the hazelnut cocoa spread Nutella.</p>
<p>During a video clip posted by the crew of the Artemis II lunar mission — just moments before they broke the record, set by Apollo 13, for distance traveled from earth — a jar of Nutella floated across the cabin, tumbling end over end as it prominently displayed the label.</p>
<p>&#8220;A jar of Nutella was seen floating through the Orion spacecraft approximately 4 minutes before the Artemis II crew made history as they passed the Apollo 13 distance record from 1970 of 248,655 miles from Earth on Monday,&#8221; CBS News captioned a short video of the moment.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">A jar of Nutella was seen floating through the Orion spacecraft approximately 4 minutes before the Artemis II crew made history as they passed the Apollo 13 distance record from 1970 of 248,655 miles from Earth on Monday. <a href="https://t.co/wqt680thQL">pic.twitter.com/wqt680thQL</a></p>
<p>— CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/2041263539386458166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Nutella quickly capitalized on what was being hailed across X as the best accidental product placement in history, sharing a video clip with the caption, &#8220;Honored to have traveled further than any spread in history. Taking spreading smiles to new heights.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Honored to have traveled further than any spread in history 🚀 Taking spreading smiles to new heights ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/vDUJMi1qbS">pic.twitter.com/vDUJMi1qbS</a></p>
<p>— Nutella (@NutellaUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NutellaUSA/status/2041274623417795021?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Bright, bold letters on the screen — as the jar flipped across the frame — read simply, &#8220;Nutella is out of this world.&#8221;</p>
<p>NASA&#8217;s Kennedy Space Center got in on the joke, posting in <a href="https://x.com/NASAKennedy/status/2041285011467390990">response</a>, &#8220;Enjoying sweet treats while our Artemis crew takes sweet photos of the Moon!&#8221;</p>
<p>Hilton Hotels <a href="https://x.com/Hilton/status/2041314714194506195">posted</a>, &#8220;A suite touch to a historic journey.&#8221;</p>
<p>Ultrarunner Carilyn Johnson <a href="https://x.com/CarilynJohnson/status/2041303028196622436">suggested</a> a joint campaign with Moon Pies, saying, &#8220;There it is! We’ve been waiting. Now, consider a product mashup with @MoonPie. Their dialogue with NASA has been an absolute delight! And a Nutella Moon Pie sounds delish!&#8221;</p>
<p>The Moon Pies X account has been going back and forth with NASA since Artemis II launched, responding to photos of the <a href="https://x.com/MoonPie/status/2039482821392097425">rocket</a> and the <a href="https://x.com/MoonPie/status/2040082044361875607">earth</a> from space with comments like, &#8220;Please tell the moon how much we love her,&#8221; and, &#8220;Enough about Earth I wanna see that MOON.&#8221;</p>


Screenshot/NASA

WATCH: Artemis Crew Delivers Wholesome Moment People At Home Can Relate To

Artemis II Accidentally Delivers 'Out Of This World' Ad Campaign

advertising

<p>The crew of NASA&#8217;s Artemis II mission spent Monday looking at parts of the moon that had never been seen by the human eye — and they paused briefly to pay a one-of-a-kind tribute to a lost family member.</p>
<p>The crew shared video on Instagram as they discussed the new features and craters they&#8217;d observed while seeing the far side of the moon for the first time, and shared the names they&#8217;d chosen for two of them: Integrity, for their spacecraft; and Carroll, for mission Commander Reid Wiseman&#8217;s late wife who died of cancer in 2020 at just 46 years old.</p>
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<p>&#8220;Our science team helped us out with a couple of relatively fresh craters on the moon that have not been previously named, and our crew would like to propose a couple of potential names for those items or those areas,&#8221; Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen explained. &#8220;We spent a bit of time this morning looking out the window and we&#8217;re able to see them now, both with our naked eye and through the long lens, and so we feel this is a good time to send this down, and a special shout out to Kelsey for helping us with this.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hansen said that the first of the two features was a crater that the crew wanted named &#8220;in honor of our great spacecraft Integrity,&#8221; but the second was one that held far deeper meaning for the members of the Artemis II crew.</p>
<p>&#8220;A number of years ago, we started this journey [with] our close-knit astronaut family and we lost a loved one, and there&#8217;s a feature and a really neat place on the moon and it is on the near side/far side boundary, in fact it&#8217;s just on the near side of that boundary, and so at certain times of the moon&#8217;s transit around earth you can — we will be able to see this from earth. And so we lost a loved one, her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katey and Ellie,&#8221; Hansen said, his voice breaking. Wiseman could be seen in the video wiping away tears, as could mission specialist Christina Koch.</p>
<p>&#8220;And if you want to find this one, you look at Glushko and it&#8217;s just to the northwest of that at the same latitude as Ohm and it&#8217;s a bright spot on the moon. We would like to call it Carroll,&#8221; he continued, his voice still shaky as he spelled out the name.</p>
<p>The microphone cut then, and the three other astronauts quickly converged on Hansen, enveloping each other in a zero-gravity group hug.</p>


‘Bright Spot’: Artemis II Crew Names Moon Feature After Mission Commander’s Late Wife

Artemis II Crew Names Moon Feature After Mission Commander's Late Wife

Aerospace

<p>The crew of Artemis II channeled the opening sequence from popular 1980s sitcom &#8220;Full House&#8221; — complete with theme song — in a video NASA shared via Instagram on Easter Sunday.</p>
<p>As anyone who has ever taken a long road trip knows, the challenge is always to find something to do to fill the long hours in between destinations. And in the downtime, amid their mission-oriented duties and amateur photographic exploits, the crew of Artemis II answered that challenge with gusto.</p>
<p>&#8220;Everywhere you look, everywhere you go — there’s the Artemis II crew,&#8221; NASA&#8217;s Instagram caption read. &#8220;These four astronauts are currently on their way to fly around the Moon in NASA’s Orion capsule, which is roughly comparable to two minivans. You could say it’s a full house!&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>WATCH:</strong></p>
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<p>Throughout the video — with &#8220;Full House&#8221; theme song &#8220;Everywhere you look&#8221; playing in the background, each of the crew members got a brief video introduction. Even the crew&#8217;s zero-gravity indicator — a ball nicknamed &#8220;Rise&#8221; — got a nod as they all hammed it up for the camera.</p>
<p>Opening on title &#8220;Full Capsule&#8221; and a shot of the crew all together, waving at the camera, the video quickly cut to individual introductions.</p>
<p>Reid Wiseman, Commander, got the first nod. Then came Victor Glover, Pilot; Christina Koch, Mission Specialist; Rise, zero-gravity indicator; and finally Jeremy Hansen, Mission Specialist.</p>
<p>&#8220;We were doing scenes from bad 80s sitcoms when they introduce the cast of characters, so that&#8217;s why we all did those,&#8221; mission Commander Reid Wiseman said with a laugh as the video ended. &#8220;And we are cracking up up here.&#8221;</p>
<p>The video caught the attention of &#8220;Full House&#8221; star John Stamos, who was clearly on board with the good-natured ribbing. &#8220;Bad 80&#8217;s sitcoms? Honored,&#8221; he posted in the comments.</p>
<p>Stamos then reposted the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DWxR2FDDs_K/">video</a> from his own account, adding his own caption: &#8220;Honestly? If aliens make contact now, they’re gonna think our entire civilization is just hugs, life lessons, and Uncle Jesse fixing everything in 22 minutes.&#8221;</p>


Artemis II Hype Video Goes All-In On 80s Sitcom Vibe

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">NASA astronaut Victor Glover is earning widespread praise from conservatives after rejecting identity politics in favor of what he described as a shared human achievement during the historic Artemis II mission.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Glover, one of four astronauts aboard the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years, addressed the cultural weight surrounding the mission during a pre-launch press event, particularly its designation as the first to include both a woman and a black astronaut on a lunar assignment.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While acknowledging the importance of representation, Glover made clear he sees the mission in far broader terms. “I love that, but I also hope we are pushing the other direction … that this is just — this is human history,” Glover said. “It’s the story of humanity — not black history, not women’s history.” The remarks quickly gained traction online, especially among conservative commentators.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">NASA pilot Victor Glover CLAPS back after being asked what it means to be the first black man to visit the moon: “It’s the story of humanity, not black history, not women’s history, but that it becomes human history.”</p>
<p>“I also HOPE we are pushing the other direction that one day… <a href="https://t.co/0ctJfiWVRE">pic.twitter.com/0ctJfiWVRE</a></p>
<p>— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) <a href="https://twitter.com/RedWavePress/status/2039771462970536238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2026</a></p></blockquote>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Radio host Dana Loesch </span><a href="https://x.com/DLoesch/status/2040110577922584990"><span style="font-weight: 400;">praised</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Glover’s framing, calling him “ridiculously qualified” and applauding what she described as his rejection of “the commie tactic of CRT — prioritizing identity politics over all else.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He’s not going to allow the attempted perversion of unity to undermine how this was a real achievement for America and humanity,” Loesch added. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Australian commentator Drew Pavlou echoed that sentiment, </span><a href="https://x.com/DrewPavlou/status/2039962395775545634"><span style="font-weight: 400;">writing</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, “Victor Glover is a good man. In my view he is a hero of American and Western civilisation.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clips of Glover’s comments were widely shared by conservative figures, with many highlighting his emphasis on unity and merit over demographic firsts. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Glover’s perspective also aligns with a broader ethos expressed by his fellow crew members. Astronaut Christina Koch noted that progress should be measured by equal opportunity, saying, “we are at a time when everyone gets to work equally hard to achieve that dream,” while Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen emphasized that “anybody who shows up and is able to contribute something meaningful can be part of this mission.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Born in Pomona, California, Glover graduated from Ontario High School before earning a degree in general engineering and three master’s degrees. He went on to serve as a U.S. Navy test pilot, logging more than 3,500 flight hours across over 40 aircraft, including the F/A-18 Hornet, Super Hornet, and EA-18G Growler, while completing 24 combat missions and more than 400 carrier landings. Selected by NASA in 2013, Glover later served as pilot on SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission and spent 168 days aboard the International Space Station.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Glover has also stood out for his openness about his Christian faith, which he has described as inseparable from his career in aviation and spaceflight. After returning from the International Space Station, he noted that NASA supported his ability to take communion weekly while in orbit. “I was able to worship in space,” he said, calling it an important part of his “faith walk even while I was off the planet.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In </span><a href="https://christianchronicle.org/there-are-no-atheists-on-top-of-rockets/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">interviews</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, Glover has repeatedly emphasized that faith and science are not in conflict, but deeply connected. “My career is fed by my faith,” he said. “Anytime I do something that’s pretty risky, I pray — before I fly, every time I fly. Definitely when you go sit on top of a rocket ship.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That perspective has produced some of his most widely shared one liners: “We need Jesus, whether on Earth or circling the Moon,” and, paraphrasing a military saying, “There are no atheists on top of rockets.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">For Glover, the wonder of space exploration itself points to something greater. He has spoken about referencing the “beauty of creation” in conversations with colleagues at NASA, adding that he sees no contradiction between scientific discovery and belief in God. “I believe in both,” he said. “And I don’t find them to be in conflict.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As Artemis II pushes humanity back toward the moon, Glover’s message, grounded in faith, service, and a focus on shared human achievement, has resonated far beyond the mission itself.</span></p>


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