I watched NASA\u2019s launch-day coverage from start to finish, so I picked up on a few things others may have missed. If you\u2019re like me and you can\u2019t get enough of Artemis 2, here are some juicy details to add to your fun facts repertoire. (And by the way, you can follow the latest updates on the 10-day mission via Gizmodo\u2019s live blog<\/a>).<\/p>\n The traditional pre-launch card game <\/p>\n I\u2019ve been covering spaceflight for a few years now, and I had somehow never heard of this fun NASA tradition. Between donning their spacesuits and departing for the launch pad, astronauts play cards until their mission commander\u2014in this case NASA\u2019s Reid Wiseman\u2014loses.<\/p>\n The thinking behind this long-held spaceflight tradition is that the commander\u2019s loss burns off all his or her bad luck, clearing the mission for only good luck.<\/p>\n So, before leaving the suit-up room at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, the Artemis 2 astronauts faced off against each other in a game of High Card Wins. You can watch a clip of the game above.<\/p>\n The release of the emergency egress baskets <\/p>\n Just after T-0, as the SLS cleared the launch tower, keen-eyed spectators may have noticed what looked like a blazing fireball hurtling down and away from the rocket.<\/p>\n That was actually the emergency egress baskets being released to avoid the rocket\u2019s explosive blast-off\u2014and no, they weren\u2019t on fire. That was just an illusion created by the blaze reflecting off the baskets.<\/p>\n Hi res.pic.twitter.com\/QAAn1sDhZk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Riccardo Rossi \u2013 IU4APB \u2013 @AstronautiCAST co-host (@RikyUnreal) April 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n These baskets are suspended on a slidewire system at Launch Pad 39B. They provide<\/a> crew and technicians with a rapid escape route in the event of an emergency. Under normal circumstances, they release immediately upon booster ignition and slide away to avoid the heat and force of the launch.<\/p>\n Gob-smacking views of SLS separation <\/p>\n In all seriousness this may have been my favorite shot from Artemis II so far pic.twitter.com\/JBo01C5gdn<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Chris Combs (iterative design enjoyer) (@DrChrisCombs) April 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n One typically assumes the most eye-catching parts of a rocket launch will be the initial blast-off or the first views of Earth from the spacecraft. I don\u2019t think any Artemis 2 spectators expected the SLS core stage separation to steal the show\u2014I know I sure didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n About 8 minutes after liftoff, the core stage separated from Orion and the upper stage\u2014also known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). NASA\u2019s live feed gave us a crystal-clear shot of the core stage pulling away from the ICPS\u2014captured by a camera planted within the upper stage itself.<\/p>\n Spectators who hung in long enough to see Orion separate from the ICPS were also in for a treat. While this shot wasn\u2019t quite as dramatic, NASA\u2019s livestream still gave us an up-close view of the ICPS pulling away from Orion, showing off the spacecraft\u2019s stage adapter hardware.<\/p>\n The Orion spacecraft successfully separated from the upper stage of the rocket, and the “proximity operations” test is underway. The Artemis II astronauts are manually piloting Orion similarly to how they would if they were docking with another spacecraft. pic.twitter.com\/RWW4RSyaoq<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n A brief but alarming communications lapse <\/p>\n At one point during the flight, mission control lost contact with the Orion spacecraft for several minutes, rendering it unable to communicate with the Artemis 2 crew. This was a harrowing moment. Fortunately, ground teams quickly managed to reestablish contact with the spacecraft.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout 51 minutes into the flight, during a planned handover between satellites, the Orion spacecraft underwent a communications issue, leading to a temporary partial loss of comms,\u201d NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman explained<\/a> during a post-launch press briefing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe uplink of [the capsule communicator] to the crew was being heard by the crew, but we could not hear their responses for a brief period of time,\u201d Isaacman said. He also clarified that the issue did not stem from a problem with the Orion spacecraft.<\/p>\n As of Thursday morning, NASA had not publicly disclosed the technical cause of the lapse.<\/p>\n Trouble with Artemis 2\u2019s historic toilet Artemis 2 is historic for several reasons, but my favorite one happens to be this: This is the first mission to ever send a toilet beyond low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n Yep, that\u2019s right. The Apollo spacecraft did not have bathrooms. Crews on those missions instead relied on rudimentary waste collection technology. Basically, they peed into roll-on cuffs and pooped in bags. Being an astronaut isn\u2019t always as glamorous as it looks.<\/p>\n Orion, however, is equipped with a state-of-the-art space commode. Called the Universal Waste Management System<\/a>, it was designed to provide a more comfortable, easy-to-use, and far less messy means of dealing with urine and excrement during spaceflight.<\/p>\n Within hours of launch, the Artemis 2 crew reported an issue starting up part of the UWMS.\u00a0\u201cWe had a controller issue with the toilet when they spun it up, so we gotta work through that,\u201d Associate NASA Administrator Amit Kshatriya said during the post-launch briefing. \u201cThat\u2019s going to take maybe a few hours to troubleshoot.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Universal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/universal-waste-management-system-toilet-stall-02.27.19.jpeg\")
\u00a9 NASA <\/p>\n