"Rise" Chosen as NASA Artemis II Moon Mascot

Freelancer, the largest global freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace, announced that Lucas Ye of Mountain View, California, has designed the mascot "Rise" for NASA's Artemis II mission. The plushie was selected from over 2,600 entries in the Moon Mascot: NASA Artemis II ZGI Design Challenge.

The announcement came from Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman at Kennedy Space Center. The crew chose "Rise," inspired by the Apollo 8 Earthrise photograph, from a shortlist of 25 finalists.

Submissions came worldwide, including from K-12 classrooms and individual students. Finalist names included "Big Steps of Little Octopus," "Corey the Explorer," "Creation Mythos," and "Lepus the Moon Rabbit."

The winning design will include a micro SD card with participant names for the mission. This challenge highlights Freelancer’s role in supporting innovative NASA projects.