Artemis II captured the world’s attention last week, with millions watching anxiously as the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years unfolded.
And while astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen were the obvious stars of the journey, an unexpected object ended up drawing just as many eyes: a jar of Nutella drifting around inside the Orion capsule as the spacecraft looped around the Moon, reaching a distance of 252,752 miles from Earth.
As the crew prepared to surpass a milestone previously held by NASA’s Apollo 13 mission in 1970 for the farthest humans had travelled from Earth, the chocolate spread floated into view. The jar slowly rotated in microgravity, giving cameras a clean look at the label in a moment that looked almost staged.
“Nutella just hit a world record flying as far away from Earth as nobody else did before,” one X user wrote in response to the moment.
“Nutella just got the ultimate Space Ad provided by the Artemis 2 crew,” remarked another user.
Nutella just hit a world record flying as far away from Earth as nobody else did before 👩🏼🚀🌓 pic.twitter.com/046pkMYezH
— Tobi Mülhauser 🍕 (@iamtobi) April 6, 2026
The striking footage led some viewers to wonder if it was deliberate product placement, with speculation online that Ferrero could have been involved in some kind of branding arrangement.
However, NASA moved quickly to dismiss the idea that the jar’s cameo was part of any commercial partnership.
Agency press secretary Bethany Stevens told Futurism, “NASA does not select crew meals or food in association with brand partnerships.”
“This was not a product placement,” she added.
Even if Nutella was the only food item to steal the camera at the key moment, it’s just a small part of what the crew has been eating during the mission. The astronauts have reportedly had meals including mac and cheese, beef brisket, broccoli au gratin, and scrambled eggs. They’re also said to have 58 tortillas available—handy for meals in microgravity and, potentially, for putting that Nutella to use.
To round out the menu, the crew’s drink options reportedly include coffee, lemonade, green tea and apple cider, along with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry “breakfast drinks.”