NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman foresaw his moon mission nearly a decade ago through a fortune cookie message predicting a ‘visit to a strange place.’ A 2017 tweet captures Wiseman displaying the note, which states: ‘A visit to a strange place will bring you renewed perspective,’ accompanied by lucky numbers. He captioned the image: ‘I choose to believe this fortune I received tonight. Perhaps the moon or a #JourneyToMars.’
Artemis II Achieves Historic Moon Flyby
Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission, leads a crew that set a new distance record from Earth. The team completed a six-hour flyby around the moon’s far side on Monday, marking the first human sighting of that hemisphere in over 50 years with the naked eye. NASA highlighted Wiseman’s tweet, adding checkmarks beside ‘Strange place’ and ‘New perspective’ to note the prediction’s fulfillment.
Space Enthusiasts Celebrate the Coincidence
Online reactions praise the fortune’s accuracy. One commenter noted: ‘That’s one fortune cookie that delivered on a cosmic scale.’ Another said: ‘Nine years later, the fortune came through in the most epic way.’ Fans also referenced the lucky numbers, including 47—a culturally significant figure—and 22, linked in numerology to turning dreams into reality. Some even tried the numbers for lottery tickets.
Emotional Tribute During Lunar Flyby
A poignant moment occurred when the crew proposed naming a fresh, unnamed crater after Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen explained during communication with mission control: ‘Our science team helped us out with a couple of relatively fresh craters on the moon that have not been previously named. And our crew would like to propose a couple of potential names for those areas. A number of years ago we started this journey in our close knit astronaut family and we lost a loved one. Her name was Carroll. The spouse of Reid. The mother of Katie and Ellie. And we would like to call it Carroll.’
The astronauts shared a silent embrace amid tears. The feature lies on the moon’s boundary between near and far sides, visible from Earth at times. ‘It’s a bright spot on the moon,’ Hansen added.
Carroll Taylor Wiseman, a newborn intensive care nurse, passed away at 46 in 2020 after battling cancer. Former fighter pilot Wiseman raises their two daughters alone. Before the 685,000-mile round trip, he discussed mission risks with them, emphasizing exploration’s value.
After slingshotting the moon and surpassing the Apollo 13 record, the crew heads homeward bound.
