Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman Named JPL Deputy Director: Starts Nov. 30, Also Becomes Caltech Associate Vice President
Caltech and NASA announced on October 28 that Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II lunar flight, has been named Caltech associate vice president and deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), effective November 30. JPL, located in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, is NASA's center of excellence for robotics and deep space exploration and is managed by Caltech for NASA.
Wiseman, an emeritus astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain, commanded Artemis II's lunar flyby this year, journeying 695,081 miles with crewmates Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, farther than any humans have ever traveled.
In his new role, Wiseman will be responsible for the strategic leadership and continuous improvement of laboratory operations, working closely with Caltech on institutional planning, management, and compliance. He will serve as Center Management Authority for JPL mission execution and as the laboratory's primary interface for national security programs. JPL is NASA's only federally funded research and development center, and it is approaching the 90th anniversary of its founding by Caltech.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Wiseman has spent his career at the edge of what is possible and has the technical judgment, operational experience, and leadership to push that edge farther. JPL Director Dave Gallagher said the appointment is fitting for the astronaut who traveled farther from Earth than any human in history, joining institutions that have sent spacecraft into the far reaches of the solar system for nearly 90 years. Wiseman said he had explored the furthest reaches a human can explore at NASA, and that this was an awesome time in his career to join the team.
Wiseman joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2009, served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station for the 165-day Expedition 41 mission in 2014, commanded NASA's 21st Extreme Environment Mission Operations expedition living eight days in an ocean-floor habitat in 2016, and served as chief astronaut from December 2020 to November 2022, overseeing crew flight readiness and safety. He earned a bachelor's degree in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University in his hometown of Baltimore, and flew combat missions and served as a test pilot in the Navy.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Artemis II 指挥官 Reid Wiseman（左，帽面有其姓名）2026 年 4 月随乘组返航时受到欢迎。照片：NASA，公共领域。 / Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman (left, name on cap) is greeted on the crew's return in April 2026. Photo: NASA, public domain.
