A jar of Nutella became the unexpected star of the Artemis II mission by NASA when it appeared floating in front of the cameras of the Orion capsule during the live broadcast, just as the spacecraft surpassed the historic record for maximum distance traveled by humans from Earth.
The container appeared floating on the right side of the image, displaying its label perfectly framed, seemingly emerging from a bag that astronaut Christina Koch was placing on a shelf, about three minutes and 54 seconds before entering lunar orbit.
The moment coincided with a historic milestone: the Orion capsule reached 252,756 miles (406,773 km) from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 record that had stood since April 15, 1970, over 56 years ago.
Within hours, the video circulated widely on social media and triggered a wave of memes, comments, and reactions worldwide. Users and digital communication specialists deemed the episode as "the best free advertisement in history."
The Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than five decades, was launched on April 1 from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.
The crew has 189 food options for ten days, although reports indicate that NASA does not select the crew's meals, but rather the astronauts choose their personal supplies.
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