When astronaut Reid Wiseman prepares to lead the Artemis II mission, humanity’s first return to the moon in over half a century, he does so with the memory of his late wife, Carroll, at the heart of his journey.
Carroll Wiseman passed away from cancer in 2020 at just 46 years old, but her love and determination continue to guide her husband’s vocation. “When Carroll started getting sick, I wanted to get her home to Virginia, to her family, and she said: ‘No, we are not leaving. Our kids are not leaving the school and their friends, and you are not leaving this job that you’ve worked your whole life to get,’” Wiseman told The Times.
Her insistence that their family remain rooted in Houston, where Wiseman trained at NASA, became a testament to her courage and selflessness. As Wiseman recalled, “When she passed away … it was interesting to watch my family members start to, like, send me a picture of the moon, or say: ‘Hey, we’re proud of what you’re doing’ … It was like I was carrying a legacy of her along and they were so proud that this family was just continuing to go down this path that we had forged for 17 years together.”
Faith, Family, and the Call to Greatness
Wiseman now prepares to command Artemis II, a ten-day mission that will take him and three fellow astronauts around the far side of the moon aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft. For a brief 45 minutes, the crew will lose all communication with Earth, an experience Wiseman described as “almost … heavenly. You’re alone, four of you, totally blocked from planet Earth by the moon and the only thing on the other side is deep space.”
For Catholics, his reflection resonates with the mystery of silence and trust — stepping into the unknown with faith that light will return. As the astronauts wait for the “acquisition of signal” to restore contact with Earth, Wiseman hopes the world will be united in prayer and hope for their safe return. His crewmate Victor Glover put it simply: “If we had the ability to be one thing for one moment, that would remind us when things get tough … that we can do challenging and very big and very important things when we work together.”
A Father’s Greatest Mission
While Wiseman looks to the heavens, his heart remains on Earth with his daughters, Ellie and Katherine. They were young teenagers when their mother died, and the weight of leaving them for such a dangerous mission is not lost on him. “It’s a really risky mission and that weighs on me pretty hard, for me to say goodbye to those two girls when we go aboard this rocket. They’d rather I not go, right? But … I’m not gonna give up something that means a lot to me because it will mean more to them that I continue to pursue these dreams.”
Like many fathers, Wiseman has wrestled with balancing vocation and family. He was deeply moved by the advice of Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean: “You know, when I was training to fly on Apollo 12, I read a thousand books on how to fly a lunar lander and I read zero books on how to be a dad.” Wiseman admitted, “That hit me hard … I immediately changed my focus on what I was learning about … I would say 90 per cent of what I read right now is how to raise daughters.”
In Wiseman’s story, Catholics can see the echo of Christ’s teaching: that true love lays down its life for others (John 15:13). Carroll’s sacrifice — encouraging her husband to continue his mission even as she faced death — is an image of spousal love that does not cling, but gives. Wiseman’s ongoing devotion to her memory, and his commitment to fatherhood amid the demands of space exploration, shows how vocation is never just about personal achievement. It is about carrying others with you, even into the heavens.
As Artemis II prepares for launch, Wiseman honors Carroll “every single day, every single minute” (The Times). His mission is not only scientific, but profoundly human; a reminder that even at the edge of space, love remains the greatest force we carry.
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