Just last week, NASA mentioned that members onboard the Orion and that were part of the Artemis I mission placed a couple of easter eggs around the spacecraft. These eggs were filled with messages for others to uncover.
Easter Eggs That Contain Cryptic Messages
According to IFL Science, these puzzle pieces served as a form of tribute to late members of the said mission. They also served as references to the past and the present of lunar expeditions.
Hidden in different spots of the entire craft were a total of five eggs.
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NASA Tradition
Gizmodo notes that NASA has a tradition of keeping mementos and cryptic messages within spacecraft.
For one, way back in 1977 when Voyagers 1 and 2 were deployed, these crafts had a gold-plated disk of copper that was one-foot long onboard. This was also dubbed the Golden Record. The said record comprised several visuals and audios that represented earth life, in case extraterrestrial beings ever found it.
Another case was more recent. Some engineers from NASA added a binary message on the parachute of the Perseverance rover. The message read "dare mighty things."
For the specific Artemis 1 conquest, NASA stayed with a moon-related motif. There were five cryptic messages stationed within the crew cabin, as mentioned by NASA.
Hidden Message: Fly Me To The Moon
One of the cryptic messages was spotted at the right portion of the spacecraft. The specific letters CBAGF were added below one window.
Such letters refer to Frank Sinatra's famous track, Fly Me to the Moon. The letters signified the specific musical notes that made up the popular melody.
Hidden Message: Cardinal Tribute
A photo of a cardinal was stationed at the top of the window that was positioned at the right side of the pilot's seat. This specifically symbolized a tribute to the late program manager of Orion, Mark Geyer, who passed last 2021. Gizmodo mentions how NASA noted how Geyer was an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Hidden Message: Binary Code
In tribute to the Apollo program of NASA, the number 18's binary code was added to the top of the seat of the pilot. The Apollo 17 mission reached the moon on December 11, 1972. This was the last time that astronauts were able to step foot on the moon's surface.
Hidden Message: Charlie
The former deputy program manager, Charlie Lundquist, was also paid tribute to. Charlie had passed away in 2020 and to honor him, NASA added the morse code for the word "Charlie" in recognition of the vital role Lundquist played when it came to developing the Orion spacecraft.
Hidden Message: European Partnership
NASA also recognized the contribution of their partners all the way from the ESA or European Space Agency who played vital roles in the development of Orion's service model. They did so by adding country codes of all the countries that helped with the Orion's development. These included Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, France, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Norward, Netherlands, and the United States.
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