A jar of Nutella in space with Artemis II, Ai or perfect 'spot'?

Together with the astronauts of the US Artemis II space mission, who on Monday 6 April reached the record maximum distance from the Earth, a jar of Nutella may also have travelled. During the live video feed of the mission, just before the fly-by around the Moon, one can in fact see a jar of the famous hazelnut cream floating in the Orion capsule while the crew is at work: a few seconds that immediately went viral on social media, among those who raised doubts about the authenticity of the images and thought it was artificial intelligence and those, on the other hand, who spoke of a case of product placement perfect for the iconic Ferrero jar.

The Nutella USA account didn't miss the opportunity of a seemingly perfect (and free) commercial and immediately re-released the video from its social profiles with the slogan 'Nutella is out of this world', i.e. Nutella is space, from another world, 'we are honoured to have travelled further than any other spread in history. Taking the spread of smiles to new heights'.

The famous spread may have enriched the astronauts' menus during the historic lunar mission, menus that include cheese macaroni, 58 tortillas, five types of spicy sauces, vegetable quiches, couscous, tropical fruit salad, pudding, biscuits and 43 cups of coffee. A total of 189 food and beverage products are available on board, all selected taking into account shelf life, food safety, nutritional value, crew preferences and compatibility with the mass, volume and energy requirements of the Orion capsule. "Food must be easy to prepare and consume in microgravity, minimise crumbs and remain safe and stable for the duration of the mission," explain the Nasa experts.