NASA's Artemis II Crew and Mission Control Reference 'Project Hail Mary' During Lunar Mission
During NASA's Artemis II mission, the crew and Mission Control made a notable reference to Andy Weir's 'Project Hail Mary' by quoting the character Rocky, an Eridian alien from the story. This occurred as Commander Reid Wiseman described the view of Earth and the Moon from their spacecraft, highlighting the scale and beauty of the celestial bodies. The mission, which involves a lunar flyby, aims to set a new record by traveling 252,760 miles from Earth, surpassing the distance achieved by Apollo 13 in 1970. The Artemis II mission is a significant step in NASA's plan to return humans to the Moon and eventually conduct missions to Mars. 
