SINGAPORE: A simple gesture of love took on cosmic meaning when Singapore singer Derrick Ho sent his daughter’s name on a journey to the Moon and back aboard Nasa’s Artemis II mission from April 1 to April 10.
In an Instagram post on Monday (April 13), Ho said he had registered her name on Nasa’s website at the end of last year after learning about the initiative.
“End of last year, knowing how much Nori love space, I went to NASA’s website and registered her name for a mission after reading about it online,” he wrote. “It felt like a small, quiet thing at the time.”
Nasa said more than 5.6 million names were submitted and stored on a memory card that flew aboard the Orion spacecraft during the mission.
The card was placed in a stuffed animal named Rise, the mission’s mascot and official zero-gravity indicator used as a visual cue when the vessel enters microgravity.
Ho shared a video of the crew placing the memory card into the mascot before launch, with mission commander Reid Wiseman saying: “Just that act of seeing that little memory card with everyone’s names, everyone’s hopes that are going on this journey with us.”
“We always say we’re going for all and by all, and zipping that little pocket on the bottom of Rise was kind of the moment that put it all together for me. We are going for all and by all. It’s time to fly. Cheers.”
Ho, who was a contestant on Project Superstar in 2005, said he had forgotten about the registration following the birth of his second child in late February.
He said life had become “a blur of routines shifting, just trying to keep up with everything”.
He recalled the submission only after a recent conversation with castmates from the Mandopop musical Partial Eclipse of the Heart.
“We were in our Partial Eclipse group chat and my castmates were sharing about Artemis II and how it connects to our musical. And suddenly, it hit me. I went to look for Nori’s ticket.”
After checking online, Ho confirmed his daughter’s name had been included in the mission.
“It left Earth, travelled all the way to the Moon, went behind it and came all the way back home.”
“For a brief moment, a part of her was out there, farther than most of us will ever go, and now it’s back,” he wrote.
He also shared a photograph of the children’s book Guess How Much I Love You, which he said he often reads with his daughter.
“I used to say it as a feeling. Something you can’t measure. But this time, a part of her actually made the trip. I really did that for her.”
