An Artemis 2 astronaut took a ‘bath’ on camera on the way to the moon. Mission Control’s reaction was priceless (video)

HOUSTON —. Sometimes when you’re on a road trip and need a shower, nothing’s going to get in your way.

That seems to be what happened Friday (April 3), when astronaut Victor Glover, the pilot of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission to the moon, suddenly took off his shirt in full view of a live camera feed on the Orion spacecraft after his daily workout.

Mission Control’s reaction was priceless. The video feed suddenly cut out, replaced by a view inside the White Flight Control Room here at NASA’s Johnson Space Center while flight controllers prepared a response that sounded a bit sheepish.

“Integrity, courtesy call,” astronaut Chris Birch, Artemis 2 capsule communicator, radioed from Mission Control a few minutes later. “Not knowing your preference, we did have video of Victor, which we stopped from going out on our PAO stream.” (PAO is NASA’s abbreviation for Public Affairs Office.)

“We appreciate that, Chris. We were definitely good with the go out, but we definitely understand if you want to restrict,” Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman radioed back. “No problem either way.”

Birch smiled and said she’d add it to the growing list of crew preferences, and the moment passed.

A short while later, video from the interior of Orion resumed, showing some of the Artemis 2 astronauts wrapping up lunch as a shirtless Glover finished “showering” with a small towel. He had just completed his daily 30-minute workout using Orion’s new flywheel exercise device. You can see the full video at the top of this page.

“NASA astronaut Victor Glover, having completed his workout, cleaning up in space,” a NASA commentator said. “Obviously we do not have showers aboard the Orion spacecraft.”

The episode, while amusing, offered an unusually intimate glimpse into the daily life of an astronaut in space — in this case, one headed for the moon.

Glover, Wiseman (both NASA astronauts) and Artemis 2 mission specialists Christina Koch of NASA and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency launched toward the moon on April 1 on NASA’s first crewed lunar mission since 1972. They will become the farthest-ever humans from Earth when they loop around the moon on April 6 to begin their trip home. The 10-day mission is due to return to Earth on April 10.