A Taylor Swift reference, along with a resurfaced post from her fiancé, Travis Kelce, coincided with a milestone moment in spaceflight as NASA's Artemis II crew flew farther from Earth than any humans in history.
As the spacecraft approached its lunar flyby, NASA highlighted a 2010 post on X from Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce.
"The moon looks crazy tonight ... Imma chill out here for a little and just visualize my success n vibe to the scenary," he wrote at age 20.
NASA replied, "It's been a long time coming," echoing the opening line of Swift's Eras Tour intro.
The pop culture nod carried into the mission.
During a livestream carried by Sky News, Commander Reid Wiseman showed a Swift-inspired friendship bracelet and flashed a hand-heart after hearing his daughters were watching from Houston.
The lighter moments came as the crew reached a major benchmark.
On Monday afternoon, Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen officially passed the Apollo 13 record for the farthest distance traveled by humans from Earth.
At 1:57 p.m. EDT, they moved beyond 248,655 miles, a record that had stood since 1970.
NASA's Orion capsule reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth, going 4,101 miles (6,600 kilometers) farther than Apollo 13 before looping around the far side of the moon.
The flyby also marked another first: the astronauts became the first people to view the moon's far side directly with the naked eye.
The mission is following a free-return lunar trajectory, the same path used during Apollo 13 after an oxygen tank explosion forced the crew to abandon a planned landing.
The route uses the combined pull of Earth and the moon to swing the spacecraft around and send it back, minimizing the need for fuel.
There were also reminders of earlier lunar missions woven into the flight.
The Artemis II crew carried an Apollo 8 silk patch that traveled to the moon with astronaut Jim Lovell.
"It's just a real honor to have that on board with us," Wiseman said.
Lovell, who commanded Apollo 13 and was part of Apollo 8, recorded a message for the Artemis II astronauts two months before his death in August. Mission Control played it for the crew before they began their flyby.
"Welcome to my old neighborhood," Lovell said. "It's a historic day and I know how busy you'll be, but don't forget to enjoy the view."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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