Astronauts On NASA’s Artemis II Mission Dedicated A Moon Crater To Their Commander’s Late Wife Carroll By Naming It After Her

NASA’s Artemis II crew has named a newly discovered lunar crater after the late wife of one of its astronauts during their mission around the moon.

On Wednesday, April 1, NASA launched Artemis II, a spaceflight mission carrying four astronauts — Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — on a 10-day flyby around the moon.

The mission is a test flight to prepare for future lunar landing missions and marks the first crewed flight to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

On Monday, April 6, Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen reported to mission control that the crew had identified two lunar craters and decided to name one after the late wife of mission commander Reid Wiseman, Carroll Wiseman.

Carroll, a newborn intensive care unit nurse, died of cancer in 2020 at 46, according to NBC News.

“A number of years ago, we started this journey, and our close-knit astronaut family, and we lost a loved one, her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katey and Ellie,” Hansen said.

Hansen described the crater as “a bright spot on the Moon” that would be visible from Earth during the moon’s transit.

“We would like to call it Carroll. And you spell that C-A-R-R-O-L-L" Hansen said while choking up.

The moment was emotional for the crew, who were seen hugging and crying after the announcement as they floated in zero gravity.

The other crater was named after the mission’s spacecraft, Integrity.

The names of the crater will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is responsible for naming planetary features.

Many of the lunar features are named after explorers, scientists or engineers who have been dead for three years or longer, but exceptions are made, according to NASA.

The clip of the moment has gone viral, making people tear up all around the world.

“He literally gave his wife the moon,” one person wrote on X.

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