Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel wears NASA-inspired moon costume in Miss Universe 2023

Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel wears a NASA-inspired moon costume in the Miss Universe 2023 National Costume Show on Jan. 12, 2023 in New Orleans. (Image credit: Miss Universe)

Houston, Miss USA has landed. When Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel took the stage in the Miss Universe 2023 National Costume Show this week, she wore the moon.

Gabriel's costume, an homage to NASA's Apollo 11 lunar landing and current Artemis program, included an actual scale-sized moon held up over her head by an intricate frame surrounded by gleaming silver stars and an outfit bedecked by red, white and blue lights. She carried an American flag to complete the look.

"On July 20, 1969 two U.S. astronauts became the first humans to step foot on the moon accomplishing one of the most remarkable achievements in human history. Fast forward to today and women are involved more than ever in the Artemis program aiming to send the US back to the moon," Gabriel, 28. wrote of the costume on Instagram via her clothing brand R'Bonney Nola.

"As a Houston native, where the NASA space center is located, I am proud to be from a city working to send the first female to the moon," she added.

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Houston is the location of NASA's Johnson Space Center, home of the agency's Mission Control Center for human spaceflight mission and astronaut training centers.

"The purpose of this costume was to inspire women in all spaces across the universe to dream big, shoot for the moon and achieve something out of this world," Gabriel wrote.

Gabriel, the first Filipina American Miss USA, chose Filipino designer Patrick Isorena to create the costume. Isorena also designed Gabriel's Miss Texas costume in the Miss USA 2022 pageant, according to ABS CBN News. Isorena told ABS CBN News that the costume weighs up to 33 pounds (15 kilograms).

The Miss Universe 2023 pageant wraps up tonight (Jan. 14) in New Orleans. The National Costume Show occurred on Thursday (Jan. 12). You can see the full National Costume Show below.

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Tariq is the award-winning Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001. He covers human spaceflight, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. He's a recipient of the 2022 Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting and the 2025 Space Pioneer Award from the National Space Society. He is an Eagle Scout and Space Camp alum with journalism degrees from the USC and NYU. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.