MWe were less than four minutes away from the absolute record for the distance of astronauts from Earth (406,771 kilometres, surpassing Apollo XIII) when in front of the camera of the Orion capsule Artemis II appeared a jar of Nutella in a state of levitation. The white cap, the unmistakable black-red label: 450 grams of hazelnut cream floating in the air as if nothing had happened, while the Moon was there outside the window.
Why Nutella goes to space (and it makes sense)
It’s not a marketing coup, although Ferrero will be grateful for a long time. Nutella is an ad food very high energy density compared to mass: every gram counts when talking about orbital launches, where the cost of carrying a kilo beyond the atmosphere is prohibitive. There are on board Artemis II tortillas, dried fruit, freeze-dried coffee, chocolate: a far more appetizing pantry than that of the Apollo astronautswho in the 1960s had to make do with tubes and compressed food. The foods are also chosen to make few crumbs: a loose crumb in the cabin could slip into any circuit.
The sweetest heirloom in space history
The jar taken during the flyover is the first in history to reach the Moon and will return to Earth as a museum object, in the most literal sense of the word. On X, @NutellaUSA rode the wave with irony: «Honoured to have brought the spread of smiles to new heights». Someone on social media doubted the authenticity of the video, hypothesizing AI processing. The answer is simple: by looking at live images from NASA, the jar can clearly be seen passing through the frame 3 minutes and 51 seconds away from the record. One hundred percent real.
Artemis II, the record: 406,771 kilometers from Earth
In the hours following the fly-by, the Artemis II crew moved further away, until it reaches 406,771 kilometers from Earth. A record destined to last at least until Artemis III, the mission that it will bring humans back to lunar soil. Meanwhile, a jar of hazelnut cream has already made history.
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