Artemis II astronauts share touching story in never-before-seen video
In new footage from National Geographic’s cameras on board the NASA mission, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen talk about naming a crater after Wiseman’s late wife—and banter about whether they’d vacation on the moon.
When Artemis II blasted off in April for its historic 10-day mission around the far side of the moon, National Geographic partnered with NASA to send cameras along for the ride. The astronauts captured clips for their fellow Earthlings of what life was like inside the Orion spacecraft—including one very emotional moment on their flyby.
Nestled into the capsule side-by-side after their first shift of lunar observations, NASA mission commander Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency relived the instant when Hansen, along with fellow astronauts Christina Koch and Victor Glover, proposed naming a moon crater after Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, who passed away in 2020.
“I didn’t expect it to be as emotional as it was,” Wiseman confessed. “At one point, while Jeremy was talking, I could tell he was running out of steam, and I put my hand down on his hand, and I could feel how cold his hand was, and how much it was shaking, and I just realized how much this meant to all four of us, and there was not a dry eye in here. And that was just a really meaningful way to start our lunar observations. I couldn’t have wished for it to start any better, any other way.”
(Everyone wants a piece of the moon. What could go wrong?)
In response, Hansen deadpanned, “Yeah, we’re doing this again? Ok.” The two chuckled. “We don’t need to. I just wanted to say that,” Wiseman replied. Then Hansen got serious. “No, it was very emotional. And very meaningful. And just a lot harder than I imagined it was going to be…I didn’t know it would be so hard to get through those words. I was breaking up.”
While the astronauts were naming the Carroll crater, which can be seen from Earth by telescope, Wiseman was thinking of his two daughters and hoping they’d made it to mission control to witness the dedication. “Just the thought of Ellie and Katey still potentially being there in the viewing room when that happened…because we didn’t plan any of that,” he mused. “I didn’t even know they were going in until this morning. And, man, if they could have seen that—I hope they did see that. Because it would be very special for them.” (After the crew returned home, Katey Wiseman posted on Instagram, “To have a crater named after my mother was completely unreal. She was the funniest, most kind, and beautiful mom on this Earth and will now not just be part of history, but etched into the moon itself for all of eternity. To look up at the sky every night and see her is the most beautiful thing I have ever been given.”)
The astronauts’ lunar flyby marked an extraordinary moment for humankind—the farthest from home that our species has ever physically ventured into space—and crowned NASA’s first crewed mission back to the moon in nearly 50 years. Artemis II now sets the stage for the Artemis III mission, which will carry out a series of critical tests in low-Earth orbit next year (check out the new crew and what they’ll be doing here), and Artemis IV, planned for early 2028, which will land astronauts back on the moon itself.
Artemis II also revealed how a live crew can capture details about the moon that satellites might miss. In the new clip, Hansen and Wiseman discussed the remarkable texture of the lunar surface—and reveled in the thrill of seeing it with their own eyes. “We were looking at these landmarks we were told to look at, but then… oh my gosh, I want to talk about this new thing I can see now that I couldn’t see before,” Hansen said. “That’s why humans are here, right,” Wiseman reflected. “Otherwise you would just take a satellite image and you would look at it and you would know everything you want. But man, when you put a little human ingenuity and creativity in there, you get off track really quick.”
Speaking of ingenuity, Artemis II may end up marking a critical stepping stone to a permanent human presence in deep space—paving the way for NASA’s future moon landings, and even more distant plans for a nuclear-powered lunar base and a mission to Mars. So would the charismatic quartet who crewed Artemis II be up for actually touching down on the lunar surface one day?
(Return to the Moon: National Geographic's up-close look at Artemis II)
“The overwhelming emotion I was feeling there, while I was looking at it, was: I want to go,” Wiseman confessed to Hansen. “Like, if I can vacation there, I would absolutely vacation there.”
“I mean, I don’t want to live there,” Hansen bantered back. “I’d love to explore for a little bit.” Wiseman laughed, then agreed. “I would love to explore for a little bit!”
