For one Artemis II astronaut, a nine-year-old prophecy has come true

Artemis II astronaut Reid Wiseman received a fortune cookie in 2017 that said he would visit a "strange place". He shared the slip with the prediction on his social media page on February 11, the same year. Wiseman captioned the post, "I choose to believe this fortune I received tonight. Perhaps the Moon or a #JourneyToMars." Little did he know that this fortune would come true.

The Artemis program was established in 2017, and NASA officially announced the crew for Artemis II on April 3, 2023. The mission launched the Orion spacecraft with four astronauts on board on April 1. Reid Wiseman is the mission commander, while Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen are the other three crew members.

NASA shared Wiseman's photo from 2017 with the caption, "Strange place check, New perspective triple check." The strange place is the Moon, while flying to space and looking back on Earth gave the astronauts a new perspective on life, often known as the Overview Effect. Wiseman's trip to the Moon marks the first time humans have left Earth's orbit in over 50 years.

See NASA's post here

The Overview Effect is a cognitive shift in awareness that many astronauts have had during spaceflight in the past. It occurs when viewing the Earth from orbit or the lunar surface, and it often results in a profound change in perspective regarding life, humanity, and the planet. The term was first coined by space philosopher Frank White in his 1987 book, The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution.

Wiseman is a former US Navy fighter pilot and test pilot who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2009. He went to the International Space Station in 2014 as part of Expedition 40/41. He also served as the 17th chief of the Astronaut Office from 2020 to 2022. Wiseman is 50 years old, which makes him the oldest human to travel beyond low Earth orbit.

The Artemis II spacecraft Orion is currently on its way back home after conducting a lunar flyby on April 6. The astronauts flung nearly 7,500 kilometres beyond the surface of the far side of the Moon, reaching the farthest distance in space any human being has ever been. In doing so, Orion used Moon's gravity to slingshot towards Earth, after which it will be caught by the planet's gravity, reducing reliance on fuel.

The astronauts observed the far side of the Moon for the first time, revealing a bright region which is not as dark as once believed. Images show a pockmarked face of the Moon filled with craters. The Artemis II crew observed two new, unnamed craters and decided to name one of them Carroll, after Wiseman's late wife, who died of cancer in 2020.