Teary-eyed Artemis II Commander reveals late wife's ultimate sacrifice to make his dreams come true

After what is being hailed as one of the most majestic missions of humanity, Artemis II is set to wrap up. After witnessing the far side of the Moon, the Artemis II crew is set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on the evening of April 10. As they make their way home, a video of the astronaut Reid Wiseman is making rounds on the internet. In an interview with CBS News, right before the mission’s launch, posted on April 8, Wiseman shared how his wife, Carroll, proved to be a tremendous pillar of support for his career and dreams.

In addition to Wiseman, who’s the Commander, the crew includes Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. On April 6, the Artemis II crew tearfully named a "bright spot" on the Moon after Weid's late wife, Carroll. 

46-year-old Carroll Wiseman passed away from cancer on May 17, 2020. She was a registered nurse for the newborn intensive care unit at Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters before becoming a school nurse at Patuxent River, Maryland. Even during the peak of her illness, Carroll remained a beacon of positivity. Commander Reid recalled a time when she was so sick he had offered to move back to be near her family. Carroll straight up refused. “She’s like, ‘No!’ This is where you work. This is the job you love. This is where you work, and this is where our kids are growing up, and we’re going to stay right here," described Wiseman.

“To me, that was marching orders that day, to continue down this path,” he added. When questioned about his two daughters, Ellie and Katherine, he said. “They are supporting me hugely. They would rather I not go. They would rather I be a stay-at-home dad and hang out. But they also know that this is a unique opportunity, and the parents have to live their dreams just like the kids have to live their dreams,” Wiseman contemplated. “It keeps me on my toes every single day,” he mused, and added, “That’s my family, you know. When everything else is gone around you, it’s family that you come home to. And that’s the most important thing in anybody’s life, I think.”

Wiseman’s teary-eyed interview touched the hearts of his fellows and of the thousands of viewers tracking their every move. Referring to his crewmates dedicating a crater in his wife's honor, Reid said, "That was kind of the pinnacle moment of the mission for me. That was, I think, where the four of us were the most forged, the most bonded." Wiseman's NASA bio says he "considers his time as an only parent as his greatest challenge and the most rewarding phase of his life."

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