{"id":83316,"date":"2026-04-07T10:18:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=83316"},"modified":"2026-04-07T10:18:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:18:35","slug":"a-twinkle-of-hope-found-amid-the-artemis-ii-crews-playlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/a-twinkle-of-hope-found-amid-the-artemis-ii-crews-playlist\/","title":{"rendered":"A Twinkle of Hope Found Amid the Artemis II Crew\u2019s Playlist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"
The Artemis II crew, pictured here, woke up one day of their historic flight to the sounds of “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan – a moment both small and big in nature. (Credit: NASA HQ, Flickr<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This week, our eyes have been collectively drawn to the skies by an ongoing NASA<\/a> mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Artemis II crew \u2013 composed of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen \u2013 is presently guiding NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft on an historic mission to orbit our moon. The group has already successfully circled Earth\u2019s natural satellite, and is now making its way back home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been an affecting ride into the void thus far \u2013 in particular, the moment<\/a> when the Artemis II crew proposed naming a bright spot on the moon after Wiseman\u2019s deceased wife, Carroll, who died in 2020 of cancer. Here on Earth, people have been gripped by the notion of someone loving someone else so much that they carried their love further than any human has ever gone<\/a> \u2013 and then bestowed her name upon a bright spot they found in the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s also been dotted with flashes of joy, and delight. From the reaches of space have come a spoof of the opening credits<\/a> of sitcom \u201cFull House,\u201d as well as the sight of a jar of Nutella spread hurtling its way<\/a> through the cabin during an otherwise routine moment.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n Woman Astronaut Is Ready to Make History on Moon Mission\n <\/a>\n <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n

And, one \u201cmorning,\u201d the crew was awakened by the triumphant playing<\/a> of \u201cPink Pony Club,\u201d the 2020 queer pop anthem by queer pop artist Chappell Roan<\/a> that\u2019s become a beloved hit song. Its selection wasn\u2019t some grand statement \u2013 just a fun song, effective for coaxing astronauts from their slumber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then, you add the context of Dr. Sally Ride \u2013 and a sweet wake-up \u201ccall\u201d becomes something sweeter, still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ride, famously the first woman to ever go to space, was and is a hero for generations of girls and women. But even as she went where no woman had ever gone before \u2013 in her career, and in her trip to space \u2013 she was held back on Earth from being open about her partnership with Tam O\u2019Shaughnessy, a woman she loved and lived with for nearly 30 years. All because Ride lived in a time when \u201cbeing an icon\u201d and \u201cbeing a lesbian\u201d didn\u2019t go together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While re-establishing contact with us terrestrials, Koch noted that \u201cwhen we leave Earth, we do not leave it \u2013 we choose it. We will always choose Earth, we will always choose each other\u201d In response to this sentiment, Ground Control offered: \u201cIntegrity from Earth, our single system, fragile and interconnected, we copy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the same sense of connection-from-afar Ride herself experienced while on her own trip to the stars. In an interview following her ground-breaking flight, she noted that \u201call the imaginary lines of humanity \u2026 the tribal fears we hold onto \u2026 all the arbitrary restrictions we place on ourselves and each other \u2013 they mean nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ride was held back from living her truth by those arbitrary restrictions while she was alive \u2013 she could never hope to publicly name a piece of outer space after O\u2019Shaughnessy, as she might have wanted. But in 2026, a lesbian artist\u2019s work can be played aboard NASA spacecrafts and be greeted with smiles, and without complication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a little something to hold on to, anyway. A bright spot in the sky, if you will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about Ride\u2019s journey \u2013 on Earth, and above:<\/strong>
Dr. Sally Ride, the Queer Woman Icon Who Was Never Allowed to Be One<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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Related<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n \n
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Astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft were awakened this week by Chappell Roan\u2019s \u201cPink Pony Club\u201d \u2013 a queer anthem by a queer artist. Dr. Sally Ride would have loved it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":83317,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"The #ArtemisII crew woke up one day of their historic flight to the sounds of \"Pink Pony Club\" by Chappell Roan - a moment both small and big in nature.","autoblue_shares":[{"did":"did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f","date":"2026-04-07T14:18:38+00:00","uri":"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mivxuu537r23","response":"{\"uri\":\"at:\/\/did:plc:l2n6ydtigm3gtra4vb4rfl7f\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3mivxuu537r23\",\"cid\":\"bafyreiaqqhuckxg2dmc2k4wix6woytwracyvlnzuphkbyfyegerzqusime\",\"commit\":{\"cid\":\"bafyreifdpxoy7eqmvuidxc736zps7yffnph36qsutd4dldpvxe5wyrjypm\",\"rev\":\"3mivxuu5dyz23\"},\"validationStatus\":\"valid\"}"}],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19648],"tags":[21397,20965,19645,19724],"class_list":["post-83316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-historical-legacy","tag-lgbtq-representation","tag-opinion","tag-space-exploration"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn Artemis II, Sally Ride, Progress (and Queerness) in Space<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Orion spacecraft astronaust woke up to Chappell Roan\u2019s \u201cPink Pony Club\u201d \u2013 a queer anthem by a queer artist. 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