NASA to fly Apollo and aviation artifacts on Artemis II

NASA released the Artemis II Official Flight Kit, which contains more than 2,300 items including historic artifacts such as a Wright Flyer fabric swatch, an Apollo-era flag and a Ranger 7 photo negative.

NASA has revealed the contents of the Artemis II Official Flight Kit ahead of the upcoming crewed lunar flyby. The kit continues a tradition begun in the Apollo era of carrying symbolic mementos and artifacts. Artemis II will carry four crew members on a roughly 10-day mission that will travel around the Moon and return to Earth. The flight may launch as soon as early February. Items included: - The Official Flight Kit contains more than 2,300 items, including flags, patches, pins and small relics. - The "Legacy Flag," which first flew on STS-1 in 1981 and later accompanied STS-135 and was returned by the SpaceX Demo-2 crew, is scheduled to fly again on Artemis II. - A larger U.S. flag prepared for the canceled Apollo 18 mission will make its first space flight on Artemis II after being on display at NASA Headquarters. - A 1×1-inch swatch of muslin cut from the Wright Flyer was loaned by the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and will be returned after the flight. - A 4×5-inch negative from the Ranger 7 1964 lunar photo is included as a historical item. - Additional items include soil packets from Artemis Moon trees, tree seeds from the Canadian Space Agency, an SD card with names of about 2.9 million people who signed up, metal shavings from the SLS core stage, and a rodeo badge and leather back number from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Summary: The kit assembles artifacts that link early aviation, Apollo-era missions and current Artemis efforts as a symbolic recognition of past achievements. Some items will be returned to museums or presented after the mission. The mission may launch as soon as early February.