Apollo astronaut Charlie Duke sends Easter message to Artemis II crew

April 05, 2026 Administrator
Apollo astronaut Charlie Duke sends Easter message to Artemis II crew

MELBOURNE, FL — As people around the world paused to observe Easter on April 5, theArtemis II astronautsoffered a message of love to the world and took a moment to honor their crewmate, a first-time flier in space — all after hearing from a NASA Apollo astronaut.

USA TODAY

Shortly after waking up on Sunday, the Artemis II astronauts, who are currently on their way tofly around the moon, heard the voice of someone other than Mission Control: Apollo astronautCharlie Duke.

"Hello, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. This is Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke. John Young and I landed on the moon in 1972 in a lunar module we named Orion," said Duke. "I'm glad to see a different kind of Orion helping return humans to the moon as America charts the course to the lunar surface."

Duke flew to the moon in April 1972 during theApollo 16 missionalongside John Young and Ken Mattingly. While in space, Duke left something special behind.

"Below you on the moon is a photo of my family. I pray it reminds you that we and America and all of the world are cheering you on," said Duke. "Thanks to you and the whole team on the ground for building on our Apollo legacy with Artemis. Godspeed and safe travels home."

On Monday, April 6, the Artemis II crew will make their closest approach to the moon as they swing around the far side. With the current lighting conditions, they will see views that were in darkness during the Apollo missions.

NASA has said photos taken with the crew's cameras and iPhones will be revealed afterward. They are expected to return to Earth on Friday, April 10, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

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Here's a timeline:How long will it take Artemis II to get to the moon?

Jeremy Hansen gets his astronaut wings while flying to the moon

Not every astronaut can say they received their astronaut wings while flying to the moon. Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen can.

Astronauts have a long-standing tradition of receiving their astronaut wings upon their first space flight. It's a gold pin that honors the accomplishment.

While flying toward the moon, Commander Reid Wiseman presented the astronaut wings to mission specialist Hansen live on NASA TV.

Artemis II crew members Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover answer questions from reporters during the first downlink event of their mission. Earth's crescent is seen from a solar array camera on the Orion spacecraft on the first flight day of the Artemis II mission. A view of the Earth from NASA's Orion spacecraft as it orbits above the planet during the Artemis II test flight. In an image posted by NASA on April 3, 2026, shows a full disk image of Earth, as seen from the Orion capsule. The planet is pale blue, swirling with white clouds and glowing slightly lighter blue in places from reflected light. From the lower left, a large brown landmass is Africa, with the Iberian peninsula twinkling with lights just where the planet curves. In the upper right, aurora glow in a thin green glow, just barely separated from the planet's surface. Earth is set against the black of space. In an image posted by NASA on April 3, 2026, One-third of Earth is seen through the Orion capsule window as the NASA Artemis II mission continues towards the moon. Although Earth only fills a fraction of the image it is the brightest object in the image. The capsule window is surrounded by a thick frame held in place with bolts. It is dark in the capsule, but the outlines of straps and various components of the capsule are visible. This screen grab from NASA's feed released on April 3, 2026, shows the four Artemis II crew members (L-R) Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot as they head to orbit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century. This screen grab from NASA's feed released on April 3, 2026, shows the four Artemis II crew members (L-R) Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist (hidden), NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist and Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot as they head to orbit the Moon for the first time in more than half a century.

See photos from space during NASA's Artemis II mission so far

Artemis II celebrates Easter flying to the moon

After the short ceremony, the astronauts each gave a short Easter message to everyone back on Earth.

"We were talking up here as a crew, and we wanted to send a special Easter message on this day. And no matter your faith or religion, for me, the teachings of Jesus were always a very simple truth of love — universal love. Love yourself and love others," said Hansen.

"And something for us, being up here and looking back at all of you through one tiny window — that just resonates 100 percent true," Hansen said. "And our goal as humanity should be to just follow in that example."

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her atbedwards@floridatoday.comor on X:@brookeofstars.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today:Artemis II crew hears from Apollo astronaut: World 'cheering you on'

 

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