Newsweek:  NASA Introduces Newest and Cutest Artemis 2 Crew Member

This dumb plushie mascot was mentioned in videos and articles about the Artemis 2 mission.  It was embarrassing to watch them strain to make ‘Rise’ go viral.

NASA went along with this, presumably to make girls want to learn partial differential equations.  Journalists went along with it because they don’t know orbital mechanics, but think that a toy will make children want to take hard classes.

Rise isn’t just along for the ride. The plush companion reflects a long‑standing spaceflight tradition and carries symbolic weight tied directly to the mission’s purpose and history.

No, that’s not true.  When John Glenn was wedged into the Mercury capsule, no one said, “Godspeed John Glenn.  Oh, and don’t forget your plushie mascot.”

NASA posts on it’s social media account.

Hi! I’m Rise! About a week ago, I launched aboard the Artemis II mission with four of my besties,Since then, I have been serving a very important purpose aboard the Orion spacecraft… I float. (And I look cute.) Today, I am taking over the Artemis social media accounts! -Rise

The Artemis 2 mission isn’t doing exciting or groundbreaking scientific research, but performed relatively mundane engineering testing of equipment and procedures.  Children and journalists aren’t interested in that, so the ‘Rise’ plushie gives them something to talk about.  They may as well have used a ‘Grogu’ plushie, and maybe earned some advertising cash.

I don’t blame the 8 year-old, Lucas Ye, who came up with the design.  He is as much of a marketing prop as the simplistic plushie.

Technology genius Elon Musk beats NASA on engineering and marketing.  Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster and Rocket Man, are currently 163 million miles away, traveling at 22,000 miles per hour.