Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman has been named Caltech associate vice president and deputy director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The emeritus astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain begins his new role at NASA’s center of excellence for robotics and deep space exploration and at Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA, on Nov. 30, 2026.
“Reid has spent his career at the edge of what is possible, and he has the technical judgment, operational experience, and leadership to help push that edge farther,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. “As commander of Artemis II, he helped carry America back around the Moon, and now, as an emeritus astronaut, he will continue giving back to NASA from a new vantage point at JPL. Reid is joining a storied laboratory that has made an enormous amount of history, and there is a lot more ahead. I am excited to see what he and the JPL team accomplish in the years to come.”
During the Artemis II test flight, Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen journeyed 695,081 miles on a lunar flyby that took them farther than any humans have ever traveled before.
“It feels fitting for Reid, who with the Artemis II crew traveled farther from Earth than any human in history, to join Caltech and JPL — institutions that for nearly 90 years have sent spacecraft into the far reaches of our solar system and beyond,” said Dave Gallagher, JPL director and Caltech vice president. “Reid shares our drive for discovery, knows what it takes to lead teams through high-stakes missions, and has a remarkable ability to inspire people everywhere. He adds incredible bench strength to our leadership team as we build on the lab’s legacy and shape its future together.”
After joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2009, Wiseman went on to serve as flight engineer aboard the International Space Station for the 165-day Expedition 41 mission in 2014 and was a commander of NASA’s 21st Extreme Environment Mission Operations expedition, during which he lived for eight days in a habitat on the ocean floor in 2016. As the agency’s chief astronaut from December 2020 to November 2022, Wiseman led NASA’s astronaut corps, overseeing crew flight readiness and crew safety for all NASA human spaceflight missions. During his years of service at the agency, he has conducted hundreds of scientific experiments.
“I’ve explored the furthest reaches of what a human can explore at NASA — and there were truly no words in the English vocabulary to describe seeing the Sun disappear behind the Moon from deep space. But that experience was really the jumping off point to go do the impossible things that Caltech and JPL dream, dare together, and do for NASA and the nation,” Wiseman said. “What an awesome time in my career to join this team and to try and push humanity and push our understanding of the solar system and the universe.”
Wiseman joins JPL, NASA’s only federally funded research and development center, as the lab approaches its 90th anniversary since being founded by Caltech. In his role as Caltech’s associate vice president and JPL deputy director, Wiseman will be responsible for the strategic leadership, stewardship and continuous improvement of laboratory operations, including close partnership with Caltech on institutional planning, management and compliance. Serving as Center Management Authority for JPL mission execution, Wiseman will ensure operational excellence across mission support functions in accordance with NASA requirements and applicable federal and state regulations. In addition, he will be JPL’s primary interface for national security programs.
“Reid brings to Caltech and JPL a truly unprecedented view of what humanity can achieve when ingenuity and determination are matched with the courage to pursue the furthest frontiers,” said Caltech president Ray Jayawardhana. “His pioneering spirit coupled with unbounded curiosity make him a natural fit for Caltech and JPL, a force-multiplier for a community whose daring continues to push the limits of humanity’s reach. I look forward to working closely with Dave and Reid as we chart our next era of exploration in partnership with NASA, elevating America’s space ambitions to breathtaking new heights.”
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Wiseman joined the Navy, going on to fly combat missions and serve as a test pilot. He also has a master’s degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University in his hometown of Baltimore.
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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