I'm just... I'm reblogging this again because I keep bursting into tears because I just keep thinking about his KIDS.
This is Reid Wiseman with his two daughters, Ellie and Katherine. They lost Carroll to cancer just a few years ago. I know lots of people are saying what a sweet and romantic gesture it is for Reid, but... for me? I think about his daughters.
Can you imagine losing your mom when you're barely a teenager*, but knowing now that when you look up at the moon on the right nights, you'll be able to see a little bright spot that proves that humanity will remember how much your family loved her? That the whole world is going to feel that with their whole hearts?
What a beautiful gift that must be! What a remarkable moment, five years removed from the worst of the pain and grief, to have this monument to her memory, to your love for her, shared with the universe and all of posterity?
Carroll Wiseman was a NICU nurse and a beloved wife and mother and friend to everyone on the Artemis II mission crew and though she's gone, many nights they'll all be able to look up and say 'hey' to her memory. What a kindness.
If I wasn't already thrilled about NASA getting press for a big bold launch like this, this'd do it.
*I think; NASA is good about respecting the privacy of astronaut families so everything I've shared here is based on what little is available, which is good tbh.