Sometimes we get a little whimsy with our science, folks.
A photo of a giant lunar crater taken by NASA’s Artemis II astronauts reveals that the man in the moon is not only real, but in a very good mood.
“The Artemis II crew captured this image showing the rings of the Orientale basin during their lunar flyby on April 6,” NASA captioned the photo, posted to X.
Viewers were quick to note that the basin looks a whole lot like a smiling cartoon face.
Replies include zoomed-in images of the original photo, with many highlighting the smiling contours.
“It appears highly probable that this is Doraemon,” said one fan, referencing the time-traveling robotic cat character from Japanese manga.
”’Cute like a hippo,” a second user remarked, noting the similarities between the snub-nosed land mammal and the lunar visage.
“Moon is smiling by watching the rotation of the Earth,” mused a third.
A fourth suggested naming the crater Howard for its apparent resemblance to Howard the Duck.
Another sweetly added: “A smile from the moon it is.”
To the left of the supposed smiley face is a bright spot that the Artemis II crew requested be named for their commander’s late wife.
“A number of years ago, we started this journey in our close-knit astronaut family, and we lost a loved one,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told Houston in a shaking voice as Cmdr. Reid Wiseman cried along with the mission’s other two crew members.
“There’s a feature in a really neat place on the moon, and it is on the near side-far side boundary,” he said.
“So at certain times of the moon’s transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth.
“We lost a loved one, her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie,” Hansen explained.
“It’s a bright spot on the moon, and we would like to call that Carroll,” he told Mission Control of the crater, with Houston agreeing to the request.
The crew also requested that another crater be named after their capsule, Integrity.
One space fan had a different set of names in mind: “My suggestions would be Pink and Floyd ……”
The image was released mere hours after the Artemis II astronauts broke the record held by Apollo 13, effectively becoming the humans who have traveled furthest from Earth.
In addition, the Artemis II crew became the first humans in half a decade to view the far side of the moon with the naked eye.
From their vantage of 41,072 miles (66,098km) above the lunar surface, the moon appeared similar in scale to a basketball held at arm’s length.
Having lapped the moon, the astronauts began their journey home, leaving the moon’s gravitational pull on Tuesday afternoon.
The crew is now effectively falling back to Earth over the vastness of space.
They were traveling at about 2,100 mph while crossing the gravitational boundary and will steadily accelerate along a trajectory that slings them just over Earth’s atmosphere until they are pulled in and plummet into the Pacific Ocean.
Artemis II will be moving at a staggering 25,000 mph in the final moments of its journey as its capsule falls through the atmosphere, then it will be slowed by a series of parachutes, which should drop it safely off the coast of San Francisco.
Splashdown is currently scheduled for 8:07 p.m., if everything goes according to plan.
