Artemis II astronauts moved as Moon crater honors mission commander’s late wife
Artemis II crew is now on their return journey to Earth
The Artemis II astronauts have honored a cherished friend after reaching a significant distance milestone from Earth.
On April 6, Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Astronauts Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen journeyed 252,756 miles from our planet, approaching the moon’s far side.
This achievement on their mission’s sixth day exceeded Apollo 13’s 1970 record of 248,655 miles.
The crew commemorated this historic event by naming one of the two newly identified lunar craters after Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, who succumbed to cancer in 2020, as mentioned by Space.
“A few years back, we embarked on this adventure as a tight-knit astronaut family, losing someone special along the way. There’s a feature in a wonderful spot on the moon,” Hansen communicated to mission control, as reported by the outlet. “And at various times … this will be visible from Earth.”
“We lost someone dear, Carroll, who was Reid’s wife and Katie and Ellie’s mother," Hansen elaborated. "It’s a luminous spot on the lunar surface — and we wish to name it Carroll."
Wiseman embraced Hansen as the team was visibly emotional. The astronauts also named the second lunar crater in honor of their spacecraft.
On April 1, Artemis II embarked on a pioneering manned mission to the moon for the first time in over fifty years.
This past Monday, the astronauts achieved a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, positioning the team 4,111 miles beyond the Apollo 13 mission of 1970, according to NASA.
During the mission, they managed an extensive seven-hour observation session and entered a solar eclipse.
NASA reported that the team “made their closest lunar pass” at 7pm local time “at an altitude of roughly 4,067 miles above the surface,” before achieving the mission’s furthest point from Earth.
Artemis II experienced an “Earthset” — as Earth dips below the moon’s horizon — upon moving beyond the Moon, and an “Earthrise” as the Orion craft reappeared from the moon’s far side.
The Artemis II crew is now on their return journey to Earth. NASA anticipates that Orion will leave the "lunar sphere of influence" around 1:25pm on Tuesday (April 7).