Artemis II astronaut Jeremy Hansen gives Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary” two thumbs up.
Hansen, along with fellow Artemis II astronauts Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, watched the blockbuster before departing on their space expedition. The four-person crew is currently on a 10-day trip around the moon aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft, the furthest the crew has ever traveled from Earth.
Asked what message he would give to Ryan Gosling, who plays Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher and molecular biologist tasked with a space mission to save humanity, Hanssen said, “We’re all really lucky. We were able to watch ‘Hail Mary’ during quarantine.” “I was so happy that they sent me a link to watch at home with my family and we were ready to go on our own space adventure.”
“What I want to say to Ryan is that art imitates science, and vice versa,” he continued. “He did a great job in that movie. It’s great to see people really lean into the role. I thought that was a really moving example, and someone who goes out there and just does what’s done to save humanity. It’s a pretty extraordinary example that we can all emulate. We all thought that movie was really uplifting and inspiring.”
Prior to launch, Gosling shot a video for the astronauts and wished the Artemis II crew well. The mission is scheduled to return to Earth along the San Diego coast on Friday, April 10 at approximately 5:07 p.m.
Since its March 20 release, “Project Hail Mary” has been a box office hit, grossing more than $420 million worldwide. The film is based on the 2021 best-selling science fiction novel of the same name by author Andy Weir.
