Love to the Moon: Artemis II names lunar crater in honor of Reid Wiseman's late wife
The journey of this family began in 2003, when Reid, then a fighter pilot, and Carroll Taylor, a dedicated neonatal intensive care nurse, got married. Together they built a home with their daughters, Katie and Ellie, while Wiseman advanced his career as an astronaut, a trajectory that years later would lead him to command one of the most ambitious missions of recent space exploration. However, stability was disrupted in 2015 with a cancer diagnosis that Carroll bravely faced until May 2020, when she passed away at the age of 46, just a month after Reid also lost his mother. That personal past traveled with him to space. After breaking the record for the greatest distance traveled by humans away from our planet, the crew made an announcement from the Orion spacecraft to name two formations on the lunar surface. The first was "Integrity," in reference to the spacecraft and the principles that, according to the crew, define the mission, at a moment that also marked a technical milestone within the flyby. However, the most intimate moment was yet to come. With the crew's voice connecting the immensity of space with Mission Control in Houston, the second proposal was presented. "The second is especially significant for this crew; several years ago, we began this journey in our united astronaut family and lost a beloved one. And there is a geographical feature in a really beautiful place on the moon, and it is between the visible and far sides... At certain moments of the lunar transit, you will be able to see it from Earth," he added, while Wiseman and his flight companions wiped away tears. "Her name was Caroll, Reid's wife, Katie and Ellie's mother... And we would like to name it Carol, it's spelled C-A-R-R-O-L-L," they expressed in the transmission, referring to Carroll Taylor Wiseman. As this announcement was heard on Earth, Katie and Ellie Wiseman watched from the control gallery as their mother's name became an eternal beacon, amidst a mission followed in real-time by the world. The now-christened crater 'Carroll' is not just a bright spot near Glushko; it is a testament to a love that, literally, reached the Moon. For those trying to locate this tribute from Earth, NASA detailed the spatial reference and scientific context of the observation. During the lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, the agency explained that the craters proposed as "Integrity" and "Carroll" were identified in an image captured at 3:41 p.m. EDT, showing the rings of the Eastern Basin, one of the satellite's best-preserved impact formations. In this context, the crew specified the location of the point named in honor of Carroll: "And if you want to find it, look at Glushko, and it's just north of that, at the same latitude as Ohm, and it's a bright spot on the moon."
