The crew of the Artemis II lunar flyby mission is ready for their splashdown back on Earth after completing a historic mission. Over the course of 10 days, the crew tested the Orion spacecraft’s life support systems to prepare for a future return to the moon’s surface.
Also Read: This Army pilot went from flying Black Hawks to setting a spaceflight record
Artemis II’s crew took six days to reach the moon’s orbit, where they would break the record for the furthest distance traveled from Earth. Along the way, however, they decided to have a little fun. They decided to make a video of their time on the spacecraft, but instead of a regular old documentary, they purposely made it in they style of a 1980s network television sitcom intro.
The result was out of this world.
For anyone under 40 or those uninterested in ABC’s dominating 1990s-era “TGIF” Friday night lineup, the crew borrowed the theme song (and text style) from the 1987-1995 series “Full House,” which starred Bob Saget, John Stamos, and Dave Coulier.
Everyone likes to have a little bit of fun at work. Astronauts are no different, as it turns out.
Artemis II was the first human mission to deep space since 1972. Along the way, the mission broke records set during the Space Race, by NASA’s most legendary astronauts. Aside from carrying the first woman and first Canadian into deep space, the crew were the first to see a solar eclipse from beyond the moon. They also broke the record for the furthest distance traveled from Earth, set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
The reason for Apollo 13’s record-setting distance is much less fun. The mission was supposed to be the third moon landing, but an oxygen tank in the spacecraft’s service module exploded on the mission’s second day. The damage caused its engines to fail and forced the crew to take refuge in the lunar module.
To successfully return home (alive) the Apollo 13 crew had to swing the ship around the moon’s orbit, using lunar gravity to slingshot their way back to Earth. The distance traveled was much longer than they expected, but astronauts Jim Lovell, John Swigert, and Fred Haise (all U.S. military veterans) lived to tell the tale.
The last crewed mission in deep space came in December 1972, when Apollo 17’s crew landed on the moon. It was the sixth and final time humans set foot on the lunar surface. The astronauts of Apollo 17 also took the time to have some fun. Astronauts Gene Cernan and Jack Schmitt sang “I Was Strolling on the Moon One Day,” during one of their planned spacewalks.
'I Was Strolling on the Moon One Day'
Despite the near tragedy of Apollo 13, NASA astronauts actually had a lot of un during their missions. In one instance, Apollo 10’s crew had to pause their work when someone discovered some poop floating through the spacecraft’s cabin. It became known as “The Great Floating Turd Mystery of Apollo 10.” During the Gemini missions John Young smuggled a corned beef sandwich aboard, creating crumbs and a Congression inquiry.
The Apollo 12 ground crews snuck Playboy centerfolds into the wrist booklets worn by astronauts on their EVA suits. They had no idea, so they were completely caught by surprise.
Perhaps the most famous fun came when Alan Shepard snuck the head of a six iron golf club aboard Apollo 14 in 1971. After attaching it the handle of a sampling tool, he become the first man to tee off in space, hitting a ball that flew “miles and miles and miles.”
Alan Shepard Hits A Golf Ball on the Moon
Although the Artemis II crew’s take on “Full House” was a more modern way to have fun aboard ship, it just goes to show that even the world’s smartest and most capable astronauts are still going to find ways to have a good time while undertaking the most perilous missions—as if making history wasn’t enough.
Don’t Miss the Best of We Are The Mighty
• The new Jimmy Stewart biopic depicts his World War II service
• 5 Military tech breakthroughs of 2025 that are straight out of science fiction
• A pilot survived a Mach 3 ejection from the edge of space by not ejecting at all
