Lunar 'Easter Eggs': Hidden Messages on NASA's Orion Spacecraft Revealed
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NASA's Orion spacecraft is due to splash down in the Pacific Ocean later on Sunday, concluding the Artemis 1 mission - a 25-day uncrewed test flight around the Moon.
NASA has revealed that the Orion spacecraft carried hidden messages to the Moon on its Artemis 1 mission, and revealed their meaning.
There are a total of five "Easter eggs" inside the Orion capsule:
The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team's logo above the window to the right of the pilot's seat (in honor of former program manager Mark Geyer, who died in 2021 and was a fan of the team);
The name "Charlie" written in Morse code above the Callisto voice control technology demonstration in the center of the cabin (in honor of former deputy program manager Charlie Lundquist, who died in 2020);
The country codes (1, 31, 32, 33, 34, 39, 41, 43, 46, 47, and 49) of the nations (the United States, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Norway and Germany) involved in the development and creation of the European Service Module of the spacecraft in front of the pilot's seat (in honor of the international partnership with the European Space Agency);
The letters C, B, A, G, and F written next to the pilot's seat and under one of the portholes (representing the first notes of the song "Fly Me to the Moon");
Binary code number 18 on top of the pilot's seat and to the right of the NASA logo (referring to NASA's Apollo Project, which culminated in the Apollo 17 mission).
The Exploration Ground Systems team, which prepared the ship for its launch, was the first to see the Easter eggs while installing them.
"They deciphered all the puzzles and were sworn to secrecy."
For example, Voyagers 1 and Voyager 2 carried sound recordings and images from Earth that could potentially be detected by future deep-space missions
For example, Voyagers 1 and 2 carried sound recordings and images from Earth that could potentially be detected by future deep-space missions. Metal debris from the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York was placed inside the Opportunity and Spirit rovers, and a binary puzzle was embedded in the Perseverance parachute fabric.
NASA launched the Artemis 1 lunar mission on November 16. As part of Artemis 1, the Orion ship was sent to the Moon without a live crew, but with dummies instead.
The Artemis program is organized around a series of missions. These space missions will increase in complexity and are planned at intervals of a year or more. NASA and its partners have planned missions from Artemis 1 to Artemis 5:
Test flight to the Moon (Artemis 1)
Manned lunar flight (Artemis 2)
Landing on the Moon with a crew (Artemis 3)
Delivery of astronauts to the Gateway lunar orbital station (Artemis 4)
Astronauts landing at the Moon's South Pole, delivering two new elements for the Gateway station (Artemis 5)
