Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure – The Smiling Moon That Stole the Hearts of Four Astronauts, Went Viral Across the Entire Planet, and Now Lives on Your Shelf as the Most Beloved Space Mascot Since Snoopy

The Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure is a premium collectible vinyl figure immortalising Rise — the smiling, baseball-cap-wearing, impossibly adorable moon plushie that became the zero gravity indicator aboard the Artemis II mission, went viral across social media before the spacecraft even left the launch pad, and captured the hearts of millions of people on Earth while floating weightlessly beside the four astronauts who flew around the Moon in April 2026. Rise isn’t just a mascot. Rise is the fifth crew member of the most historic space mission of the 21st century — a tiny, round, joyful moon wearing an Earth-themed cap who was designed by an eight-year-old second-grader named Lucas Ye from Mountain View, California, and who won NASA’s mascot competition from more than 2,600 submissions . The New York Times described Rise as “a round, smiling moon wearing a baseball cap that shows half of Earth’s surface” — “a custom design by Lucas Ye, 8, of Mountain View, Calif., who won a NASA-sponsored contest that thousands of people entered” . USA Today reported that “NASA’s moon mascot RISE is heading to space” and that the plushie had been “going viral on social media” before the April 1 launch . The Palm Beach Post confirmed that Rise “captivated the hearts of astronauts on board Orion and Earthlings down below” . And Newsweek introduced Rise to the world as NASA’s “newest — and cutest — Artemis 2 crew member” flying “aboard the Orion spacecraft with the other four astronauts as they make history” .

Rise’s story is one of the most beautiful narratives to emerge from any space mission in history. Popular Science explains that Rise is “a baseball hat-wearing plushie that will let the four-person crew know when they have officially hit zero gravity” . NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio confirms that Rise carried something extraordinary inside: “People from around the world submitted their names through the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign. These names were downloaded onto an SD card that is safely stored inside Rise” . When the mission ended and the crew splashed down in the Pacific on April 10, 2026, King5 News reported that “Commander Reid Wiseman ensured that Rise — the plush moon that carried millions of names — returned to Earth with the Artemis II crew” . Applemug carries the NASA Artemis II Mission The Moon Mascot ‘Rise’ Collector Figure described as a “3.75-inch vinyl figure, in a display-ready box” that is “the perfect tribute for NASA fans and space enthusiasts” . Crafttobuy offers the NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure featuring “its smiling moon design, Earth-themed cap, and mission-inspired styling” where “every part of this figure feels bright, friendly, and unmistakably space-themed” . This Vitestyle.com edition joins that historic marketplace — currently in stock and ready to ship worldwide. In this guide, we’ll cover Rise’s extraordinary origin story, the figure’s design and collectible appeal, the Artemis II mission Rise flew on, display strategies, gifting potential, care instructions, and where to buy. Whether you watched Rise float in zero gravity on the live feed, you submitted your name to ride inside the plushie’s SD card, you’re raising a future astronaut who needs to know that an eight-year-old designed NASA’s mascot, or you simply believe that the most beloved space mascot since Snoopy deserves a permanent place on your shelf — Rise rose to the Moon, and now Rise rises to your collection.

The Origin Story — How an Eight-Year-Old Designed NASA’s Most Beloved Mascot

Rise was born from a child’s imagination and NASA’s belief that space exploration belongs to everyone. NASA held a nationwide competition inviting people of all ages to design the zero gravity indicator for the Artemis II mission — a tradition dating back to the Space Shuttle era where small objects are carried aboard spacecraft to visually demonstrate when the crew has reached weightlessness. The competition received more than 2,600 submissions . From that enormous field, one design captured the judges’ attention with its simplicity, its joy, and its perfect encapsulation of everything the Artemis programme represents. That design came from Lucas Ye, an eight-year-old second-grader from Mountain View, California . WSVN reported that Lucas is “the brains behind the masterpiece” and that his creation won “NASA’s mascot competition for Artemis II” . Yahoo News confirmed that “the development of the mission mascot and viral sensation Rise began over a year before Artemis II blasted off” .

The design itself is deceptively brilliant in its simplicity. Rise is a round, smiling moon face wearing a baseball cap decorated with Earth’s surface — a design the Palm Beach Post explains was “inspired by the iconic ‘Earthrise’ moment from the Apollo 8 mission — with the moon wearing an Earth cap” . That Apollo 8 reference connects Rise to the most famous photograph in space history — the 1968 image of Earth rising above the lunar horizon that fundamentally changed humanity’s perception of its own planet. By placing Earth on the Moon’s cap, Lucas Ye created a visual metaphor that even a child can understand: the Moon is looking back at us, smiling, wearing our planet as a reminder of home. The New York Times described the result as “a round, smiling moon wearing a baseball cap that shows half of Earth’s surface” . Popular Science called it “a baseball hat-wearing plushie” designed to “let the four-person crew know when they have officially hit zero gravity” . And DogOnews captured Rise’s functional purpose with charming clarity: “The tiny plush had a simple, but important job — to float when the spacecraft” reached weightlessness . An eight-year-old understood that a space mascot should be joyful, should reference history, and should make people smile. NASA agreed. And the world fell in love.

Rise Goes Viral — The Fifth Crew Member Captures the World’s Heart

Rise didn’t just accompany the Artemis II mission — Rise became the mission’s emotional centrepiece. Before the April 1, 2026, launch from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B, Rise was already generating extraordinary social media attention. USA Today reported that the mascot had been “going viral on social media” before the spacecraft even left the ground . The Arizona Central confirmed that “RISE, an adorable plushie and newly coined ‘moon mascot,’ designed by 8-year-old Lucas Ye from California, has been going viral on social media. That’s right, RISE has joined the astronauts for NASA’s 2026 moon mission” . The Independent described the scene at Kennedy Space Center where “mission commander Reid Wiseman revealed the mission’s adorable zero gravity indicator” to the public . And Newsweek’s headline captured the universal reaction with perfect precision: “NASA introduces newest — and cutest — Artemis 2 crew member” .

During the mission itself, Rise became the visual symbol that connected millions of viewers on Earth to the astronauts orbiting the Moon 240,000 miles away. When Rise floated weightlessly inside the Orion capsule, viewers watching the live feed saw the moment zero gravity was confirmed — not through instrument readings but through the joyful image of a smiling moon plushie drifting through the cabin. The Palm Beach Post reported that Rise “captivated the hearts of astronauts on board Orion and Earthlings down below” . And when the mission ended with the Pacific splashdown on April 10, King5 News revealed the most touching detail of all: “Commander Reid Wiseman ensured that Rise — the plush moon that carried millions of names — returned to Earth with the Artemis II crew” . The mission commander personally carried Rise home. That single act — the leader of humanity’s return to deep space cradling a smiling moon plushie designed by an eight-year-old — tells you everything you need to know about what Rise means to the people who flew with it and the millions who watched from below.

Rise Carried Millions of Names to the Moon

Inside Rise’s soft body, an SD card carried the names of millions of people who submitted through NASA’s Send Your Name with Artemis campaign — one of the most successful public engagement programmes in NASA history. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio confirms: “People from around the world submitted their names through the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign. These names were downloaded onto an SD card that is safely stored inside Rise, the zero gravity indicator” . This means that Rise wasn’t just a mascot and wasn’t just a zero gravity indicator. Rise was a vessel carrying the identities of millions of human beings around the Moon — people from every country, every age, every background who submitted their names and then watched as a smiling moon plushie carried those names farther from Earth than any human artefact had travelled in over 54 years.

For anyone who submitted their name through the campaign, this Pop! Figure carries an additional layer of personal significance. Your name flew to the Moon inside Rise. Your name completed the 700,000-mile journey that the Deseret News described as “record-setting.” And now Rise — the vessel that carried your name — can sit on your shelf as a permanent, tangible reminder that a piece of you went to the Moon in April 2026. That connection between the physical figure and the personal name submission creates a unique collector relationship that no other Pop! Figure in the Funko universe can replicate. This isn’t just a figure of a character you admire. This is a figure of the mascot that carried your identity around the Moon.

Design and Details of the Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure

Every element of this figure captures Rise’s iconic design with the faithful, joyful, unmistakably space-themed aesthetic that made the mascot a global sensation. Crafttobuy describes the figure as featuring “its smiling moon design, Earth-themed cap, and mission-inspired styling” where “every part of this figure feels bright, friendly, and unmistakably space-themed” . The smiling moon face reproduces the round, cheerful expression that Lucas Ye designed and that the New York Times described as “a round, smiling moon” . The Earth-themed baseball cap — the design element connecting Rise to the Apollo 8 “Earthrise” moment — sits atop the figure with the same jaunty angle that the plushie wore inside the Orion capsule. And the mission-inspired styling ties the figure to the Artemis II programme branding that accompanied the most historic crewed spaceflight of the 21st century.

Applemug’s collector figure establishes the dimensional standard: “3.75-inch vinyl figure, in a display-ready box” that serves as “the perfect tribute for NASA fans and space enthusiasts” . The display-ready packaging means the figure arrives in a box designed for shelf presentation — allowing collectors to maintain the sealed condition while enjoying the full visual impact of Rise’s smiling face through the window. The vinyl construction provides the detailed sculpting capability and paint-application precision that character-specific collectibles demand, rendering Rise’s round form, Earth cap, and cheerful expression with the fidelity that fans who watched the mascot float through the Orion cabin will recognise immediately. This Vitestyle.com edition channels that same joyful, mission-accurate design at an accessible price point, ensuring that every NASA fan, every Artemis follower, and every person whose name flew inside Rise can own a piece of the most viral space mascot in modern history.

Materials and Construction

The figure is crafted from premium vinyl in the Pop! figure format — the oversized-head stylisation that has made Pop! figures the most collected vinyl format in the world with over one billion figures sold across thousands of licences. Applemug confirms the specification as a “3.75-inch vinyl figure” arriving “in a display-ready box” . Crafttobuy describes the design as “bright, friendly, and unmistakably space-themed” with “Instantly Recognizable Artemis Detail” . The hand-painted finishing ensures that Rise’s signature colour palette — the warm lunar surface tones, the blue-and-green Earth cap, and the cheerful smile — are rendered with the chromatic accuracy that fans will compare against the photographs and video footage of the real Rise floating inside Orion. The vinyl’s structural durability ensures the figure withstands years of display, handling, and the kind of affectionate interaction that Rise’s design naturally inspires — because this is a figure you don’t just look at. You smile at it. And it smiles back.

The Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure for Space Enthusiasts

For space enthusiasts, Rise represents something no previous space mascot has achieved — a character that went genuinely, massively, globally viral in a way that transcended the space community and reached audiences who might never have otherwise engaged with NASA’s lunar programme. USA Today, the New York Times, Newsweek, Popular Science, the Palm Beach Post, the Independent, and dozens of other major outlets covered Rise’s story, collectively ensuring that millions of people who might not have known the names of the Artemis II astronauts knew the name of the smiling moon plushie floating beside them. That viral reach makes this Pop! Figure a cultural artefact of the Artemis II mission’s public impact — a figure representing not just the mascot itself but the moment when the Artemis programme captured the mainstream imagination through the simple, universal appeal of a smiling face designed by a child.

Display it on your desk beside your Artemis II mission patch. Position it alongside the broader Artemis merchandise that the Palm Beach Post documents spanning “T-shirts, hoodies, LEGO sets, plushies” . Place it next to your Vitestyle.com Artemis Lunar 2026 Launch Coin for a multi-format Artemis II display combining vinyl figure charm with numismatic permanence. Or add the Artemis II Crew 2026 Launch Ducks for the complete Artemis II collectible trifecta — the coin marking the mission’s historical significance, the crew ducks honouring the four astronauts, and Rise representing the fifth crew member who stole the show.

The Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure for Children and Families

Rise’s origin story makes this figure one of the most inspirational collectibles available for children and families. An eight-year-old boy from California entered a NASA competition, beat 2,600 other submissions, and watched his creation fly around the Moon on the most historic space mission of the century. That story — confirmed by the New York Times , Yahoo News , WSVN , Popular Science , and DogOnews — is a real-life fairy tale about what happens when a child’s imagination meets a space agency’s willingness to listen. Every child who holds this figure holds the proof that NASA believes children’s ideas matter enough to carry them to the Moon.

For the parent raising a future scientist, engineer, or astronaut, this figure serves as a daily visual reminder that space exploration isn’t just for adults with PhDs. A second-grader designed the mascot. A second-grader’s imagination flew 700,000 miles. And when the mission commander came home, he personally carried that second-grader’s creation back to Earth . Give this figure to the child in your life and tell them Lucas Ye’s story. Then watch their eyes widen as they realise that the next Rise — the next mascot, the next design, the next idea that captures NASA’s attention — could come from them.

The Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure for Educators

For teachers and educators, this figure is a curriculum-ready teaching tool wrapped in the most engaging packaging imaginable. The Rise story touches every dimension of STEM education. Physics: Rise’s primary function was as a zero gravity indicator, floating when the spacecraft achieved weightlessness . Engineering: the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and heat shield that brought Rise safely home represent some of the most complex engineering systems ever built. Design: Lucas Ye’s winning submission from over 2,600 entries demonstrates the design thinking process from concept through competition through production. History: Rise’s Earth cap references the Apollo 8 “Earthrise” moment, connecting the Artemis programme to the original lunar exploration era. And Inspiration: the entire story demonstrates that space exploration belongs to everyone, including eight-year-olds from California whose drawings can end up orbiting the Moon.

Display this figure in the classroom where it sparks daily conversations about Artemis, about design, about the science of zero gravity, and about what happens when you enter a NASA competition and your imagination is good enough to win. Use it as a student achievement award for the child who excels in STEM. Or place it on the teacher’s desk as a permanent reminder that the next Lucas Ye might be sitting in the third row right now, drawing something that NASA hasn’t seen yet.

The Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure as a Perfect Gift

Rise’s universal appeal makes this figure one of the most versatile gifts in the space memorabilia landscape. The mascot’s charm transcends age, transcends the space enthusiast community, and transcends the typical collector demographic. Anyone who watched the Artemis II coverage and saw Rise floating in zero gravity felt something. Anyone who learned that an eight-year-old designed NASA’s mascot smiled. And anyone who heard that Commander Wiseman personally carried Rise home from the Moon understood that this tiny plush had become something far more significant than a zero gravity indicator.

Give it for birthdays of the space enthusiast whose walls are covered in NASA posters. Present it at Christmas as the stocking stuffer that generates genuine delight from children and adults alike. Gift it to the child who dreams of space and needs to know that Lucas Ye was their age when he designed something that flew around the Moon. Give it to the teacher whose Artemis II lesson was the highlight of the school year. Or give it to anyone who submitted their name through the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign and wants a figure of the mascot that carried their identity 700,000 miles around the Moon and back . Shopping at Vitestyle.com ensures you’re getting an authentic product backed by reliable customer service and genuine quality assurance. Explore the full range at the Vitestyle collections page — featuring themed garden wind spinners including the Rat Fink Skull Road Outlaw Pop Figure Doll featuring unique design elements, the BEST Mike Tomlin 19-Season Farewell Pop Figure Doll for female fans, the Toronto Blue Jays 2025 American League Champions POP Doll honoring the star receiver, and the Ice Cube’s champion Ride Pop Figure! Doll celebrating the quarterback’s redemption story.

Caring for Your Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure

Display away from prolonged direct sunlight to prevent UV-induced colour fade on the vinyl surface and the painted Earth cap, moon face, and mission-inspired detailing. If displayed in the display-ready box, the packaging provides built-in protection while allowing full visual appreciation. If displayed out of box, position on a stable, flat surface away from edges. Dust periodically with a soft, dry cloth or compressed air to maintain the paint detailing. Avoid moisture, harsh chemicals, and abrasive materials on the vinyl surface. For long-term archival storage, a clear acrylic protector case provides museum-quality preservation. Rise survived a 700,000-mile journey around the Moon. Your figure can handle your shelf — just treat it with the same care that Commander Wiseman showed when he personally carried the original Rise home .

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure?

A premium collectible vinyl figure immortalising Rise, the Artemis II zero gravity indicator mascot. Applemug describes the collector figure as a “3.75-inch vinyl figure, in a display-ready box” that is “the perfect tribute for NASA fans and space enthusiasts” .

2. Who designed Rise?

Lucas Ye, an eight-year-old second-grader from Mountain View, California. The New York Times confirms Rise is “a custom design by Lucas Ye, 8, of Mountain View, Calif., who won a NASA-sponsored contest that thousands of people entered” .

3. What was Rise’s job on Artemis II?

Rise served as the zero gravity indicator. Popular Science explains it is “a baseball hat-wearing plushie that will let the four-person crew know when they have officially hit zero gravity” .

4. Did Rise actually fly to the Moon?

Yes. Newsweek confirms Rise was flying “aboard the Orion spacecraft with the other four astronauts as they make history” . Rise completed the entire 700,000-mile mission and was personally carried home by Commander Wiseman .

5. What names did Rise carry?

NASA confirms: “People from around the world submitted their names through the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign. These names were downloaded onto an SD card that is safely stored inside Rise” .

6. Why did Rise go viral?

USA Today reported Rise had been “going viral on social media” before the launch . The Palm Beach Post confirmed the mascot “captivated the hearts of astronauts on board Orion and Earthlings down below” .

7. What does the figure look like?

Crafttobuy describes it as featuring “its smiling moon design, Earth-themed cap, and mission-inspired styling” where “every part of this figure feels bright, friendly, and unmistakably space-themed” .

8. Is the figure a good gift?

Outstanding for NASA fans, space enthusiasts, children inspired by Lucas Ye’s story, educators, anyone who submitted their name through the Send Your Name campaign, and anyone who watched Rise float in zero gravity and fell in love.

9. Does Vitestyle.com ship internationally?

Yes. Worldwide shipping with tracking is available to Cape Canaveral, Mountain View, Houston, and every destination where Rise’s story has inspired smiles.

10. Is the Mascot Moon NASA Artemis II Rise Pop! Figure currently in stock?

Yes — in stock exclusively at Vitestyle.com. Order now and bring the most beloved space mascot of the 21st century to your shelf. An eight-year-old from California drew a smiling moon wearing an Earth cap. NASA chose it from 2,600 submissions. It flew 700,000 miles around the Moon. It went viral across the entire planet. Commander Wiseman personally carried it home. And now Rise rises to your collection — smiling, joyful, and carrying the spirit of everyone whose name flew to the Moon and back. 🌙😊🚀