The crew of NASA’s historic Artemis II mission paid an emotional tribute during their lunar flyby by proposing to name a crater on the moon after the late wife of mission commander Reid Wiseman.
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen made the announcement during a live communication with mission control, saying the crew wanted to honor two lunar craters while orbiting the moon.
One of the craters was proposed to be named “Carroll,” in memory of Carroll Wiseman, the wife of Commander Reid Wiseman, who died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 46.
“We lost a loved one, her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katey and Ellie,” Hansen said during the emotional message. He described the crater as “a bright spot on the moon.”
Following the tribute, the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft embraced while floating in zero gravity. Wiseman and fellow astronaut Christina Koch were seen wiping away tears during the moment broadcast on NASA’s livestream.
NASA said Carroll Wiseman had dedicated her life to helping others as a neonatal intensive care unit nurse, caring for newborns in critical condition.
Reid Wiseman, a single father of two daughters, has previously spoken about the challenges of balancing his role as a parent with the demands of space exploration. In an interview before the mission, he described raising his daughters as both his greatest challenge and most rewarding experience.
The Artemis II crew also proposed naming a second lunar crater “Integrity,” inspired by the name they gave their Orion spacecraft during the mission.
The proposed names will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union, the organization responsible for officially approving names for celestial features across the solar system.
The tribute took place as the Artemis II astronauts completed a historic flyby of the moon, traveling farther from Earth than any humans before them.
At the mission’s most distant point, the Orion spacecraft reached approximately 252,752 miles from Earth, surpassing the distance record set by the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970.
“As we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from planet Earth, we do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration,” Hansen said while reporting the milestone to mission control.
He also challenged future generations to push the boundaries of space exploration even further.
The Artemis II crew — Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen — have now begun their journey back to Earth after completing the lunar flyby.
NASA confirmed the spacecraft exited the moon’s gravitational sphere of influence on Tuesday when it was about 41,000 miles from the lunar surface.
After spending 10 days in space, the astronauts are scheduled to return to Earth on Friday with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
