This Artemis II astronaut took the phrase “I love you to the moon and back” to a whole different level, by naming a crater after his late wife in a very touching tribute.
NASA’s Artemis II mission has delivered not only record-breaking achievements in space exploration, but also one of its most emotional human moments—when astronauts proposed naming a lunar crater in honor of mission commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman.
The moment happened as the crew flew around the Moon during their historic mission, which saw them travel farther from Earth than any humans in history, surpassing the Apollo 13 distance record.
As they identified previously unnamed features on the lunar surface, the crew made a heartfelt request to Mission Control: one of them should be named “Carroll.”
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, speaking on behalf of the crew, described it as a “bright spot on the Moon,” a gesture meant to honor a woman who was deeply important to their team and to Wiseman’s personal life.
Carroll Wiseman, a neonatal nurse, died of cancer in 2020, leaving behind her husband and their two daughters.
As the request was relayed back to Earth, the emotional weight of the moment was evident. Wiseman, along with his fellow astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Hansen, reportedly became visibly emotional, pausing to embrace inside the Orion spacecraft after the proposal was made.
The crew also suggested naming another nearby feature “Integrity,” after their spacecraft, reinforcing the mission’s theme of unity, remembrance, and exploration.
While the crater name still awaits official approval from the International Astronomical Union, NASA officials confirmed that the proposal will be forwarded for consideration.
The gesture has been widely seen as a modern continuation of a long-standing space tradition — astronauts leaving personal marks on celestial bodies, blending scientific discovery with deeply human stories.