— Oh boy! Mickey Mouse made his first, real-life flight to the moon on NASA’s celebrated Artemis II mission.
The global cultural icon and corporate mascot of the Walt Disney Company has been spotted in a newly-released photo taken during the 10-day flight that soared over the far side of Earth’s celestial neighbor. The image was first shared with the public on Friday (May 8), as part of a social media gallery capturing “life on Orion,” the spacecraft aboard which commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen reached farther into outer space than anyone had traveled before.
Unlike a certain jar of hazelnut cocoa spread or the astronauts’ own mascot “Rise,” Mickey’s appearance seems to have gone largely unnoticed. In the photo, which centers on Wiseman, among a stash of equipment lining the wall, is a slightly out-of-focus package of Huggies-brand wet wipes. Adorning the side of the plastic pouch is a small illustration of Mickey Mouse riding a bubble while wearing his iconic red shorts, yellow shoes and white gloves.
The same package can also be seen in another of the posted photos capturing Hansen and Glover floating side by side. Just behind Glover’s head, hidden in the shadows, is the pack with Mickey more dimly-lit but still visible.
The use of Mickey on Huggies is not something new. Parent company Kimberly Clark and Disney have collaborated for more than 25 years.
The same can be said for NASA’ use of the wet wipes in space. As far back as 2005, Huggies packages have been spotted in photos taken on the International Space Station. Even back then, the pouches were decorated with kid-enticing scenes featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends.
Artemis II, however, is believed to be the first documented flight of Mickey to the moon. There are reports of one or more NASA astronauts (Wally Schirra and Gene Cernan) wearing Mickey Mouse character wristwatches on their respective Apollo flights, but if so, the locations of those timepieces are unknown today and the families of the late crew members have no memory of them having done so.
An earlier inquiry by collectSPACE with the curators of the Walt Disney Archives confirmed that the company has no examples of a moon- (or space-) flown Mickey Mouse in its collection.
What is to become of the Artemis II Mickey Mouse packaging is unknown. The Orion spacecraft arrived back on April 30 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers and technicians are just beginning the process of analyzing and unpacking the capsule after its 10-day mission.
NASA has collaborated with Disney since its founding in 1958, helping expose, educate and engage the public in space exploration. Mickey’s cameo on Artemis II, though, came simply from the use of an off-the-shelf product.
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