While we already knew the Artemis II crew watched Project Hail Mary before their journey around the Moon, we just received another wonderful callback to the novel/film as Mission Control responded to Commander Reid Wiseman’s description of the Moon by quoting Rocky and saying, “Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!”
The awesome moment occurred during NASA’s official broadcast of Artemis II’s space voyage, and it happened as they were conducting their lunar flyby that took them farther from Earth than any human before. Their record of a planned 252,760 miles will be enough to surpass Apollo 13’s distance of 248,655 miles from 1970.
AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE @projecthailmary đ€ @NASA pic.twitter.com/b62NAoLtw8
â IGW (@interstellargw) April 6, 2026
“We just realized we have Earth at window four and the Moon at window three, and it gives you the best idea of scale we have had yet,” Wiseman said. “The Moon is about three to four times the size of the Earth, and it is almost full, and the Earth is just a small crescent out there. Itâs magnificent – I got a picture of it with the wide lens. Such a majestic view out here.â
‘Amaze! Amaze! Amaze! Thank you, Reid,” Mission Control responded.
For those who have read Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary or have seen the film adaptation from Phil Lord and Chris Miller starring Ryan Gosling, this quote was a reference to Rocky, the Eridian alien who helps Ryland Grace attempt to save things we won’t spoil here.
The pair must learn to speak to each other, and one of the ways Rocky is able to express his excitement at what’s going on is by saying, “Amaze! Amaze! Amaze!”
Artemis II is halfway through its mission to fly around the moon, and it is scheduled to return to Earth on April 10. This mission is a giant step toward a long-term return to the moon and future missions to Mars, and it also marks the first time humanity has flown to the Moon in over 50 years.
For more on Project Hail Mary, be sure to check out our review, why we think Rocky is the film’s secret weapon, and we came to the defense of these “hopecore” outerspace movies.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.
