Space is serious business, what with the breaking records and the future moon bases. But even the most accomplished astronauts need a little playtime. Apparently, that involves a simple ball of water, floating freely, doing absolutely nothing.
NASA recently dropped a video of Artemis II crew members Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen just… watching a sphere of water. And honestly? It's mesmerizing. The water, a perfect globe thanks to zero-G's surface tension, bends light in ways that make it look like a tiny, liquid crystal ball. A retired NASA astronaut, Karen Nyberg, pointed out it’s a simple physics lesson: what you see depends entirely on your perspective. Which, if you think about it, is both profound and a bit trippy when applied to a water bubble.
Wiseman, it turns out, is a seasoned veteran of orbital water sports. Back in 2014, on the International Space Station, he and his crewmates went full science-fair on water's surface tension. They even managed to shove a waterproof camera inside a bubble for a truly unique, slightly claustrophobic view of zero-G.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxSpeaking of Artemis II, this isn't just a crew of bubble enthusiasts. Commander Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Koch and Hansen recently returned from a 10-day mission that casually broke Apollo 13's record for the farthest crewed spaceflight. They also snapped some truly spectacular photos of the moon's far side. Their work is all part of the grand plan: building a Moon Base, and eventually, heading off to Mars. Because apparently that's where we are now. And sometimes, you just need a water bubble to remind you of the simple wonders of physics before you go colonize another planet.
