Artemis II Crew Asks To Name Lunar Crater After Astronaut’s Late Wife

The Artemis II crew honoured NASA commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll Wiseman, in an emotional tribute on Monday.

Wiseman, one of four astronauts on the Artemis II mission, lost Carroll, a 46-year-old paediatric nurse practitioner, to cancer in 2020.

Carroll was survived by Reid and their two daughters, Ellie and Katherine, according to an obituary in The Virginian-Pilot. 

In remarks to mission control, the crew announced that they would like to name an unnamed crater on the moon for Carroll. 

“There’s a feature in a really neat place on the moon, and it is on the near side, far side, boundary. In fact, it’s just on the near side of that boundary, and so at certain times of the moon’s transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth,” CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen said, his voice breaking at times.

“We lost a loved one, her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie. And if you want to find this one, you look at Glushko, and it’s just to the northwest of that at the same latitude as Ohm. And it’s a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it ‘Carroll.’” 

Reid Wiseman could be seen on video wiping away tears as he put his hand on Hansen’s shoulder. The four crew members, which also includes astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, then embraced in a hug.

Watch the moment here: 

The crew also proposed naming another crater after their Orion spacecraft, Integrity. 

Wiseman has said that Carroll insisted he continue pursuing his dreams as an astronaut even after she got sick, per the British outlet The Times.

He has also discussed what it’s like to be an only parent and how he prepared his daughters for the potential risks associated with a mission into space. 

“I went on a walk with my kids, and I told them, ’Here’s where the will is, here’s where the trust documents are, and if anything happens to me, here’s what’s going to happen to you,” Wiseman said at a January NASA news conference, according to The Baltimore Banner. “That’s just a part of this life.”

In an Instagram post he shared shortly before liftoff last week, Wiseman boasted about his children.

“I love these two ladies, and I’m boarding that rocket a very proud father,” Wiseman wrote in a caption alongside a selfie with his daughters.