Ever since Artemis II and the four-astronaut crew blasted off into literal outer space last week, none of us have been the same. In the nearly 10-days that NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen have been gone, it feels like everyone—both online and in real life—has been talking about the different ways this trip to the Moon has been hitting them in their chest. I mean, just yesterday morning while I was settling into my desk, I overheard a colleague groan, “Why am I crying at the moon?!”
I, too, have fallen victim. And how can you not? Between the tender moments between the genuinely earnest and wholesome crew, to the breathtaking images of the Moon and Earth, to dedicating Moon craters in honor of loved ones, none of us could have prepared ourselves for these feelings.
That lunar flyby on Monday seemed to do it for a lot of people, especially once thosestunning photos of the moon dropped. But perhaps the most touching moment that had everyone feel like they were chopping onions was witnessing the sweet bond among the astronauts, specifically when they were naming craters on the Moon.
The first crater they named as a tribute to their spacecraft, Integrity, but the second one was far more meaningful. In 2020, commander Reid Wiseman’s wife, Carroll, passed away from cancer—they named the second crater in her honor.
When talking to the command center to request the name, mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said: “A number of years ago we started this journey in our close knit astronaut family, and we lost a loved one. … At certain times of the Moon’s transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth. So we lost a loved one, her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie. … It’s a bright spot on the Moon. And we would like to call it Carroll.”
Jeremy was audibly choked up while making this request, and on the livestream, you can see the astronauts wiping away tears before they join in a (floating) group hug.
TheInstagram post of this moment got well over 1.4 million likes and endless comments on how touching this was. One commenter aptly said: “He cried, they cried, we crode. 🥹”. More than 62,000 other users liked the comment in agreement. Another said: “I will never not cry at Carroll being a bright spot on the moon, she’ll continue to be a guiding light for her family and now us.”
Another moment that had the people unexpectedly weeping? When pilot Vic Glover was talking to the command center on Earth before the astronauts hit their anticipated 40-minute communication blackout as they traveled to the far side of the moon. He gave a really moving monologue, of sorts, before closing with, “And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you, from the Moon.” This commenter was all of us: “begging you to stop making me cry. i have things to do.”
The crew is now headed back home to Earth, and are expected to land on Friday around San Diego. With all the chaos happening in the world right now, and the general vibes so low they might as well be in hell, there’s no better Instagram comment to sum up how we’ve all been feeling these last few days: “So powerful 🥹 A Black Man communicating thoughts of love from the Moon, then a Woman seals the portal. 🌕 Humanity needed this Moon Magic. 🚀”
We really, really did.
