Artemis II astronauts recently turned a routine check-in from lunar orbit into a pop culture moment, sending sci-fi fans into a tizzy. Oh, and they also gave Ryan Gosling’s new sci-fi film Project Hail Mary an unexpected stamp of approval — all the way from space itself.
Artemis II crew members, Mission Specialist Christina Koch (top left), Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen (bottom Lleft), Commander Reid Wiseman (bottom right) and Pilot Victor Glover (top right). Photos by AFP/HANDOUT
As the Orion capsule swept past the Moon on its historic flyby, Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman radioed down a simple observation, where they could see the Earth in one window and the Moon in another.
“We just realised we have Earth at window four and the Moon at window three and it gives you the best idea of scale we've had yet,” said commander Reid Wiseman.
“The Moon is about three to four times the size of the Earth, and it is almost full, and the Earth is just a small crescent out there. It’s magnificent… I got a picture of it with the wide lens. Such a majestic view out here," he added.
Following this, the Mission Control came back with a playful response that instantly lit up sci‑fi fandom: “Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! Thank you, Reid.”
Hearing the signature phrase spoken by the character Rocky, the alien engineer from Project Hail Mary, over an official NASA broadcast, turned what would have been a fleeting exchange into a viral cultural moment.
How Artemis II and Project Hail Mary crossed paths
The reference was no accident. Before launch, the four‑person Artemis II crew – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – were given an early screening of Project Hail Mary while in pre‑flight quarantine with their families.
Canadian astronaut Hansen later described the movie night as “a real treat,” saying they were “really lucky” to watch the film at home just as they prepared for their own mission into deep space.
The film stars Gosling as Ryland Grace, a schoolteacher‑turned‑astronaut sent on a desperate mission to save humanity, in a story built around physics and problem‑solving in space.
But the connection didn’t end there. During the countdown on launch day, the crew received a video message from Gosling himself, who introduced his character and then reminded viewers that the Artemis II astronauts were the ones “going to space for real” and would travel farther from Earth than any humans in history.
Days later, when Mission Control echoed Rocky’s “Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!” back to Wiseman, fans quickly took note of it as a second, even bigger thumbs‑up for the movie.
The response across social media has treated the “Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!” moment as a perfect crossover between fiction and reality, with fan accounts and meme pages replaying the clip and pairing it with Rocky fan art and movie promos.
In fact, not so long ago, NASA even published explainers and resources to help readers understand the real science behind the fiction in Project Hail Mary.
For the film, which has already broken box‑office records and become one of the year’s biggest Hollywood releases, the organic shout‑out from orbit is a marketing boost that even money cannot buy.
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Somya Mehta
Somya Mehta is a Senior Features Writer at Khaleej Times, who contributes extensively to the UAE's a...