“No, this was not an early April Fools’ joke,” Patricia Ammons senior director of communications at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center has confirmed.
The Space & Rocket Center’s newly unveiled mascots are very real. And after a weekend of viral attention and more than 500 comments within the past couple of days, the Space and Rocket Center appears to be enjoying the reaction right along with everyone else.
As reported earlier on Monday, what began as a celebratory mascot reveal quickly turned into one of North Alabama’s liveliest social media threads. The Center introduced two astronaut characters and invited the public to vote on their favorite name pairing, Apollo and Artemis, Percy and Celeste, or Nano and Nova, as part of a giveaway that runs through March 10.
But much of the attention shifted from the names to the faces.
“If I were a kid and saw this I would scream and run the other way holy creepy,” one commenter wrote.
“Well… that was certainly a choice,” another posted.
“It’s not too late to tint those visors.”
Others wondered, “Are their faces made out of cheese?” and joked, “It looks like they were left in space too long!!!”
By Monday, the post had climbed past 500 comments, with some users openly admitting they showed up just to read the replies.
Ammons, senior director of communications at the Center, said the team has been having fun with the response.
“We’ve been having a lot of fun,” Ammons said. “We really love how much engagement this has gotten. Just the fact that people are weighing in. I saw some comments saying, ‘I just came here for the comments.’ It’s hilarious. People are so funny. We’re having a good time and really appreciate how interested everybody is.”
The mascots were designed by a company that specializes in mascot development, Ammons said, noting the style follows a traditional mascot approach.
When asked whether the faces would be adjusted, Ammons said the online commentary has not gone unnoticed.
“They’ve certainly given us a lot to think about,” she said. “So we’ll see.”
In the meantime, voting continues and the comments keep rolling in.
