Global peanut butter brand Nutella made an unexpected cameo during the Artemis II mission on April 6, quickly stealing attention online as viewers dubbed it “the greatest free advert in history.”
The brief moment, spotted inside the Orion spacecraft, offered a light contrast to an otherwise historic mission, showing that even in deep space, familiar comforts still travel with astronauts.
As expected with space, the jar of peanut butter floated through the frame due to the lack of gravity.
Online, the sighting continued to dominate reactions.
One Instagram user, Aaron Brown, wrote, “What an achievement for palm oil to make its way into space,” while another added, “Best Nutella commercial ever.”
According to BBC, the four-person crew completed a lunar flyby that set a new record for the farthest distance travelled by humans from Earth, surpassing the benchmark set by the Apollo 13 mission.
As anticipated, the crew lost contact with mission control for about 40 minutes while passing behind the Moon.
Just before the blackout, pilot Victor Glover said, “As we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still going to feel your love from Earth. And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you, from the Moon. We will see you on the other side.”
Communication resumed with astronaut Christina Koch declaring, “We will explore. We will build ships. We will visit again. We will construct science outposts. We will drive rovers, we will do radio astronomy, we will found companies. We will bolster industry, we will inspire. It’s so great to hear the Earth again.”
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen acknowledged the milestone, saying, “As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever travelled from planet Earth, we do so in honouring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration.”
Following the flyby, Donald Trump congratulated the crew, saying, “Today, you’ve made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud.”
Commander Reid Wiseman added, “We saw sights that no human has ever seen, not even Apollo, and that was amazing for us.”