After 54 years, humans returned to lunar orbit aboard Artemis II — and what stole the internet’s heart wasn’t a technical milestone so much as a jar of Nutella, the iconic Italian hazelnut spread, casually drifting through the cabin.
On April 6 (local time), NASA’s live internal feed clearly showed a jar of Nutella floating weightlessly inside the Orion spacecraft. The jar’s label spun to face the camera as if it were posing for a perfectly staged ad, and the clip quickly went viral.
Unexpected ‘brand cameo’ captured in lunar orbit
The clip surfaced just before Artemis II set a new crewed spaceflight distance record. At that moment, the spacecraft was about 406,771 km (252,756 miles) from Earth — edging past Apollo 13’s long-standing record of roughly 392,000 km. Social media users rushed in with jokes and applause, calling it “astronomical free advertising” for the surprise star of the broadcast.
Nutella’s official social media account joined the fun, posting that it was honored to have traveled farther than any other spread in history and celebrating the unexpected moment.
The video sparked playful comments like “A small step for man… and a giant scoop of Nutella,” “A truly sweet journey,” “Nutella literally at the top of the world… with the Moon and space,” “Finally, Nutella went from Earth to the Moon,” “I want a space-themed Nutella jar”, showing how quickly the brand captured the public’s imagination.
NASA chimed in with a lighthearted remark that the crew were enjoying a sweet snack while filming the Moon’s scenery, but the agency made clear there was no prior coordination with the brand and no paid product placement involved.
Sweet snack at the moment they broke the Apollo record
The live feed also revealed fun details about the Orion crew’s menu. NASA says Artemis II carried 189 different menu items, including beef barbecue, mac and cheese, and chocolate cookies. Astronaut Christina Koch singled out rehydrated, freeze-dried shrimp cocktail as “the finest treat” you can savor in space.
From shrimp cocktail to hot sauce… the world of space meals
The segment also explained how eating in microgravity changes everything. Bread was removed from the menu to avoid crumbs that could foul delicate equipment, so astronauts wrap most foods in tortillas. To combat dulled taste buds caused by fluids shifting toward the head, the crew brought five different hot sauces — and, for Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, there were maple-syrup snacks to bring a taste of home.
Artemis II, carrying four crew members including commander Reid Wiseman, continued its mission as planned — passing behind the Moon after breaking the distance record. The surprise Nutella cameo only made the flight feel more relatable to the public. The roughly nine-day mission is scheduled to conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of California on the 10th.
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