Tim Peake: ‘Hugely special’ to name crater after Wiseman’s late wifepublished at 20:34 BST
20:34 BST
As we’ve been reporting, the Artemis II crew has named one of two Moon craters “Carroll” – in memory of mission commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife.
Anne Carroll Taylor, a school nurse, died of cancer in 2020, aged 46.
“That was a
hugely special moment,” former British European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake tells the BBC.
“You know, they’ve just been announced as the furthest human beings from Earth and they got to name those craters and to have that
bright spot on the moon named after Carroll.
“That would have been an incredibly
emotional experience for them, very, very special.
“We are a very close knit
community, a very small family in the astronaut world,” he says. “We all know each other,
we all know each other’s families, so I just know how touched they will be, everybody back in mission control will be by that moment.”
Commander Wiseman, 50, has been raising his two daughters as a single dad since his wife passed away.
He has stated that he sees this as his greatest challenge and the most rewarding phase of his life.
And just before the start Moon mission, he wrote: “I love these two ladies, and I’m boarding that rocket a very proud father.”