Reid Wiseman: Artemis II Mission commander Reid Wiseman has created history. This mission took humans to the greatest distance ever from Earth during a flyby of the Moon. Earlier this record was in the name of Apollo 13 mission of 1970.

After the record was broken, an emotional moment was also seen inside the spacecraft. The crew members decided to name a crater on the Moon after Wiseman’s late wife, Carol. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen proposed the proposal, which left Wiseman emotional and in tears. Crew members hugged each other and said, “This is a bright spot on the moon, and we want to call it Carol.”

Two craters were named – ‘Integrity’, which is the name of their capsule, and ‘Carroll’, which is named after the commander’s wife. Since then, Wiseman’s personal life has also come into discussion.

How did Wiseman’s wife die?

Wiseman’s wife, Ann Carroll Taylor Wiseman, died at the age of 46 after a long battle with cancer. In his condolence message published in the year 2020, it was told that he died on May 17 in Friendswood, Texas. She was originally from Virginia Beach and her parents’ names were Waller and Ann Taylor.

Carroll attended First Colonial High School, James Madison University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. After completing her studies, she worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She also worked at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD) and later served as a school nurse in Patuxent River, Maryland, and Friendswood, Texas.

How much do you know about Wiseman?

• After Carroll’s death, the responsibility of his two daughters fell on Wiseman. They have two daughters- Ellie and Katherine.


• Wiseman was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His father Bill lives in Hunt Valley, Maryland. He also has an older brother named Bill, who was present at the launch of Artemis II.


• Reid Wiseman is the commander of the Artemis II lunar flyby mission of the year 2026. This mission is the first human mission to go around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Apart from this, he has also been the 17th Chief of the Astronaut Office from 2020 to 2022.


• Wiseman was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2009. He then traveled to the International Space Station in 2014, where he was part of the Expedition 40/41 mission. Before joining NASA, he had also worked as a fighter pilot and test pilot in the US Navy.


• Brother Bill told KOMO News that it is a special time for them to be able to spend time together, especially during the mission that Wiseman is leading. “This is a very special time for us as we come together around the work that Reed is doing,” he said.


• He also told that Wiseman was previously a US Navy pilot and he was surprised to see his hard work and training during that time. Bill said, “I saw him on a board with a wheel underneath, balancing and bouncing balls, as well as practicing landing calls and talking to the aircraft control tower. At that moment I realized that this was not the same kid I knew before.”