Meet Carroll Wiseman: The Woman Behind the Most Emotional Moment of the Artemis II Mission
The moment came quietly, as grief often does — even 248,655 miles from Earth.
On April 6, aboard the Artemis II spacecraft during a historic lunar flyby, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen’s voice cracked as he spoke. Commander Reid Wiseman wiped tears.
And somewhere on the boundary between the near and far sides of the moon, a small, bright crater received the name of a woman who had spent her life caring for the most vulnerable children on Earth.
Her name was Carroll Wiseman, the late wife of Reid Wiseman.
Who Was Carroll Wiseman?
Carroll Taylor Wiseman was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University as a pediatric nurse practitioner and dedicated her career to working as a newborn intensive care unit registered nurse.
She worked at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia and later as a school nurse in Patuxent River, Maryland and Friendswood, Texas — near NASA, where her husband pursued a career among the stars.
She died on May 17, 2020, at age 46 after a five-year battle with cancer. She was survived by her husband Reid, daughters Katey and Ellie, her parents, a brother, a sister and seven nieces and nephews, according to her obituary.
Reid Wiseman, now 50 years old, was 44 when he lost his wife.
Reid Wiseman Is a Single Father of Two
Since Carroll’s passing, Wiseman has been a single father to his two daughters — something he describes as his “greatest challenge and most rewarding phase of life,” according to his NASA bio.
Those words will resonate deeply with anyone who has navigated the dual weight of mourning a spouse while showing up, every single day, for children who need you.
The lunches still have to be packed. The bedtime routines still matter. And somehow, life asks you to keep reaching forward.
Just before the Artemis II mission launched, Wiseman shared a selfie on Instagram with his now-teenage daughters and the spacecraft, writing “I’m boarding that rocket a very proud father.”
He was also photographed holding up the heart emoji with his hands — a tribute to his two daughters — while being introduced ahead of the Artemis II takeoff.
What Is the Carroll Crater?
On April 6, the Artemis II crew — Wiseman, Hansen, Mission Pilot Victor Glover and Crew Specialist Christina Hammock Koch — surpassed the record distance from Earth of 248,655 miles, previously set during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970.
That same day, they discovered two unnamed, relatively fresh craters on the moon.
The first, located between the craters Orientale and Ohm on the far side, was proposed to be named Integrity, after their spacecraft. The second was proposed to be named Carroll.
It was Hansen who made the announcement, and the vulnerability in his voice said everything about what this crew meant to each other:
“A number of years ago, we started this journey in our close-knit astronaut family and we lost a loved one. And there is a feature in a really neat place on the Moon, and it is on the nearside/farside boundary. In fact, it’s just on the nearside of that boundary, and so at certain times of the Moon’s transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth,” he said.
“And so 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.”
All four crew members shared a group hug shortly after. The moment was captured in a video posted to NASA’s Instagram account.
Crater Carroll Isn’t an Official Name (Yet)
The crater names are not yet official — proposals must be formally submitted to the International Astronomical Union, the governing body for naming celestial bodies and their surface features, after the mission concludes.
But one detail already feels permanent: the Carroll crater sits near the boundary of the far side of the moon and is visible from Earth during certain times of the lunar cycle.
A bright spot on the moon, named for a mother, a nurse and a wife — visible from the same Earth where her daughters are growing up. For any parent carrying grief and love in equal measure, that image needs no explanation.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
