Apollo 8 in 1968<\/a>, astronaut Jim Lovell bestowed his wife\u2019s name upon a prominent lunar peak: Mount Marilyn. It was humanity’s first trip to the moon and she anxiously awaited his return back home in Houston.<\/p>\nThe three Americans and one Canadian of Artemis II are the first lunar visitors since Apollo 17 closed out that grand epoch in 1972, and their crater-naming request temporarily left ground controllers speechless.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was definitely a very emotional moment. I don\u2019t think most of us knew it was coming,\u201d NASA lunar scientist Ryan Watkins told The Associated Press on Wednesday from Johnson Space Center in Houston. \u201cThere was not a single dry eye.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mission Control\u2019s lead scientist Kelsey Young worked with the Artemis II crew before launch, quietly helping them choose the two bright, relatively young craters, which they quickly spied once they were close enough to the moon through zoom lenses as well as their naked eyes. <\/p>\n
Proposed Carroll Crater is at the moon’s left limb on the boundary of the moon\u2019s near and far sides, and occasionally visible from Earth. It’s rather shallow and approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) across, according to Watkins. The slightly bigger Integrity crater is completely on the lunar far side.<\/p>\n
Their request came shortly after they broke Apollo 13\u2019s distance record for deep-space travelers. All four astronauts wept as they embraced in a group hug.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lost a loved one. Her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie,\u201d Hansen radioed, his voice breaking. \u201cIt\u2019s a bright spot on the moon and we would like to call it Carroll.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mission Control fell silent for nearly a minute before replying: \u201cIntegrity and Carroll crater, loud and clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
The emotion-drenched scene was vastly different from the 1960s and 1970s Apollo moonshots in more ways than one. NASA’s Apollo all-male test pilots were for the most part all business and tear-free.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is no fault of Apollo,\u201d Watkins said. \u201cI think we’re seeing just a more human aspect.”<\/p>\n
Once back on Earth later this week, the crew will submit the two proposed names to the International Astronomical Union.<\/p>\n
Nearly a half century passed between Apollo 8 and the union’s sign-off of Mount Marilyn in 2017.<\/p>\n
The IAU’s Ramasamy Venugopal promised a decision on Carroll and Integrity in about a month, the norm \u201cfor straightforward requests.\u201d <\/p>\n
There already are 81 astronaut-named lunar features on the group’s approved list, including Apollo 16’s Baby Ray and Gator, and Apollo 17’s Lara named for the lead female character in the 1965 film \u201cDoctor Zhivago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some Apollo-era nicknames didn’t make the cut.<\/p>\n
Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan, the last astronaut to walk on the moon, dubbed a split boulder \u201cTracy\u2019s Rock,\u201d after his young daughter in 1972.<\/p>\n
And in 1969, Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad nicknamed his touchdown spot \u201cPete\u2019s Parking Lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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