From orbit, Artemis II crew proposes crater for commander’s late wife

Following a record-setting journey that took them farther from Earth than any humans before, the Artemis II crew used a live transmission with Mission Control to propose naming a feature on the Moon.

The crew suggested the name “Carroll” for a crater, in honor of Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman, who died of cancer in 2020. The request was delivered during a communication with Houston, where one crew member referenced the loss of a loved one while identifying the location of the crater.

According to the crew’s description, the feature lies in a bright region near the boundary between the Moon’s nearside and farside, positioned northwest of Glushko crater and at a similar latitude to Ohm crater.

The astronauts also proposed naming another crater “Integrity,” after their spacecraft.

Mission Control acknowledged the proposal after a brief pause. However, the names are not yet official.

As with all lunar surface features, they must be reviewed and approved by the International Astronomical Union, the body responsible for standardizing celestial nomenclature.

The proposal adds to a long-standing tradition of astronauts suggesting names for lunar landmarks, though formal recognition can take years.