There have been countless memorable and historic moments throughout the Artemis 2 mission so far, yet few have captured people's hearts as much as one emotional tribute from the team to an astronaut's late wife.
One of the hardest parts of space missions for astronauts is the time they spend away from their family, as unlike regular travel there's the dramatically increased risk and distance that naturally prompts a feeling of anxiety and loneliness.
Two stranded NASA astronauts recounted last year how difficult it was to spend over nine months away from their families with no way of knowing when they'd be able to return, and the crew members on board the historic Artemis 2 mission only just had the chance to speak to their loved ones on board the cramped Orion spacecraft.
One incredibly heartfelt gesture has left many in tears, however, relating to the family of Reid Wiseman, the spacecraft's commander, in particular his late wife Carroll Taylor Wiseman who tragically passed away from cancer in 2020, aged 46.
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As shared by The Hill on YouTube, in footage captured from the interior of the Orion spacecraft we can see a moment when astronaut Jeremy Hansen issues a formal request for a then-unnamed crater on the Moon to be named after Reid's late wife.
"A number of years ago we started this journey and our close knit astronaut family, and we lost a loved one. There's a feature in a really neat place on the Moon, and it is on the near side, far side boundary," Hansen explained.
"In fact, it's just on the near side of that boundary. So, at certain times of the Moon's transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth."
Hansen then went on to dedicate the special crater to Wiseman's late wife, expressing: "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 at Ohm, and it's a bright spot on the Moon."
Wiseman can then be seen offering his hand to Hansen, embracing him shortly after while fellow astronaut Christina Koch is visibly tearing up in the foreground of the video, and it's a sentiment that's shared with many across social media.
"Currently sobbing for this man and his family and friends," wrote one commenter who was affected by the emotion of the crew's touching tribute, with another on Reddit noting that they "did not expect to cry watching the feed today, but here I am."
A third added that they were "crying at my desk right now. How sweet and touching," whereas one even noticed an unexpected detail that "the crew was having trouble wiping away their tears since there's no gravity to pull them away from their eyes."
