The Artemis 2 crew proposed naming an unnamed far-side crater Carroll, after Commander Reid Wiseman's late wife, during the lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. (Photo: X/@Astro_Reid)

Artemis 2 crew names Moon crater after Commander's late wife, breaks down in tears

On April 6, 2026, the Artemis 2 crew broke down in tears aboard Orion while proposing to name an unnamed lunar crater after their Commander's late wife, who died of cancer in 2020.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Artemis 2 crew cried naming Moon crater after the commander's late wife.
  • Carroll Wiseman, a nurse, died aged 46 after battling cancer.
  • Artemis 2 broke Apollo 13's 56-year human distance record Monday.

Artemis 2 astronauts broke a record on Monday. Then they broke down.

Four astronauts were 4,06,773 kilometres from Earth, farther than any human had ever been, when one of them said a name out loud.

Carroll. A nurse from Earth who died of cancer in 2020, aged 46. She never got to see her husband go to the Moon.
On Monday, from inside a spacecraft orbiting it, his crewmates made sure the Moon would carry her name forever. Her daughters, Ellie and Katherine, heard it from Mission Control.

The crew heard it from each other. Then came the tears.

WHAT MADE THE ARTEMIS 2 CREW CRY?

During a six-hour lunar observation window, the crew spotted an unnamed bright crater on the Moon's far side, northwest of Glushko crater, at the same latitude.

They proposed naming it Carroll, after Commander Reid Wiseman's late wife.
Carroll Wiseman, a nurse, died on May 17, 2020, aged 46, after a five-year battle with cancer.
The moment ended in a group hug inside the spacecraft.

The formal naming would need approval from the International Astronomical Union, but the proposal came from a place no committee ever could, 4,00,000 kilometres from Earth, from people who loved her.

WHAT IS THE LUNAR FAR SIDE AND WHY CAN'T WE SEE IT?

The Moon's far side is the hemisphere that permanently faces away from Earth.
This happens because of tidal locking: the Moon rotates on its axis at exactly the same rate as it orbits Earth, so the same face is always turned towards us.

No human eye has ever seen it directly from Earth's surface.

During the observation window, the crew photographed and described features on both sides of the Moon in real time, relaying descriptions back to Houston.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon. (Photo- NASA)

WHAT RECORD DID ARTEMIS 2 BREAK?

At 11:27 p.m. IST on Monday, the crew surpassed the distance record of 4,00,171 kilometres set by Apollo 13 in April 1970, a mark that had stood for 56 years.

Artemis 2 will eventually reach a maximum distance of 4,06,773 kilometres from Earth, travelling about 6,602 kilometres further into space than any human in history.

Wiseman's daughters, Ellie and Katherine, watched from Mission Control in Houston as their father became one of the most distant humans to have ever lived.

Speaking on behalf of the crew, one astronaut said they chose the moment to challenge this generation and the next to ensure the record would not remain standing for long.

Artemis II mission specialist and NASA astronaut Christina Koch looks out one of the Orion spacecraft's windows back at Earth ahead of the crew's lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. (Photo- NASA)

The mission is Nasa's first crewed return to the Moon since the Apollo era, paving the way for a lunar landing near the south pole, planned for Artemis 3 in 2028.

- Ends