Astronauts deployed on the Artemis II mission around the moon have listened to Christian music during their voyage after Christian singer Anne Wilson performed the national anthem at the spaceship’s launch. 

In a message posted on Facebook Monday, Christian musician TobyMac reacted to a report from The New York Times highlighting that astronauts participating in the Artemis II mission began their sixth day on the journey by listening to the song “Good Morning,” which he produced in collaboration with the late Christian singer Mandisa.

“Wow, what an honor for me and my friend @mandisaofficial … I know she’s smiling up there right now! #songinspace,” he wrote. 

Updates from NASA state that astronauts were greeted with the song as part of their wake-up routine for that morning, reports CCM Magazine.  

Artemis II departed from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1. The “crewed lunar flyby” was scheduled to last 10 days. The crew is slated to return to Earth on Friday. Another mission, Artemis IV, is scheduled to depart in early 2028. That mission will involve two astronauts spending a week on the surface of the south pole of the moon.

At the launch ceremony, Wilson performed the National Anthem. The 24-year-old reflected on the experience in a Facebook post published last week. 

“What an incredible honor it was to sing the National Anthem at the Artemis II launch!!! This moment feels so full circle for me. There was a time in my life when I dreamed of becoming an astronaut and working for @nasa,” she recalled.

“After walking through deep loss in my family, my path changed in ways I never expected. And yet, standing here now, getting to be a small part of something so historic, I’m just overwhelmed by God’s goodness. He writes stories far greater than we could ever imagine.”

In another Facebook post on Thursday, Wilson called her performance in Cape Canaveral “by far the most special day of my entire career."

“I’m still taking all of this in and processing all yesterday was," she stated, reiterating how her appearance at Kennedy Space Center marked “a full circle moment."

In another post published Tuesday, Wilson said she visited the Kennedy Space Center with hopes of becoming an astronaut almost 10 years before she performed the National Anthem at the Artemis II launch. Wilson’s trip to Cape Canaveral as a teenager was on April 3, 2016; her National Anthem performance there was on April 1, 2026. 

Christianity and God’s role in creating the universe came up during an interview with the astronauts on Easter Sunday. CBS News’ Michael Strassman asked astronaut Victor Glover, an outspoken Christian, if he had a message he would “like to share from space about Easter Sunday.” 

“I don’t have anything prepared,” Glover responded, describing how he had the opportunity to look at “the beauty of creation” and “can really see Earth as one thing."

“When I read the Bible and I look at all of the amazing things that were done for us who were created, ... we’re in a spaceship really far from Earth, but you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos," he said. 

“Maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special,” he said, noting that “We’re the same distance from you.” 

“You are special in all of this emptiness," Glover said. "This is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe. You have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together."

“I think as we go into Easter Sunday thinking about … all the cultures all around the world, whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not … this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are and that we are the same thing and that we got to get through this together.” 

In 2020, Glover, the first African American astronaut to go on a long-term mission, took communion cups and the word of God on SpaceX Crew Dragon as he ventured into space. Glover also told the Churches of Christ-affiliated publication Christian Chronicle that he planned to participate in “virtual service” and “virtual giving” during the months-long mission. 

“Before I go and even get in an airplane to go on a flight, I say a prayer, and I always think about my family,” Glover said at the time. “God doesn’t really have to have a concern for my patriotism, but I am an American, and we were blessed to be born in America.”

After learning in 2023 that he would pilot Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the moon in more than half a century, Glover stressed that he wanted to “thank God for this amazing opportunity.” He prayed that “God will bless this mission” and that “we can continue to serve as a source of inspiration, for cooperation and peace — not just between nations, but in our own nation.” 

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-song-wakes-up-artemis-ii-astronauts-on-day-6-of-mission.html