Sailor Moon in space? NASA surprises with an otaku tribute

We thought anime had already conquered every corner of the Earth, but apparently, we fell short. This time it was NASA who decided to give us a huge surprise, proving that even the most serious government agencies have an otaku side. It turns out they included an unexpected and beautiful tribute to the Sailor Moon franchise within the official preparations for their next big lunar mission, the highly anticipated Artemis II.

A journey to the stars in anime style

The nod couldn't be more perfect. Since the space program shares its name with Artemis, the iconic talking white cat who always advises the Sailor Guardians, the agency took advantage of this magical coincidence to release official art and messages where this beloved feline "watches over" the mission. It all started with a social media post combining the imposing Orion spacecraft with illustrations of the series' mascot. As expected, the internet instantly went wild seeing their favorite guardian supporting the astronauts' return to our natural satellite's orbit.

For the generation that grew up watching Usagi Tsukino fight for love and justice in the nineties, this small gesture is pure gold. It's not every day that the most important institution in space exploration stops to embrace the pop culture created by Naoko Takeuchi in such a cool way. Although the actual launch is still several months away, fans are already crossing their fingers for more hidden references as the liftoff date approaches.

Can you imagine the astronauts taking an official plushie of the character into space, or do you think NASA has already met its otaku quota for the year?