Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman Named JPL Deputy Director

Reid Wiseman, who commanded NASA's Artemis II lunar flyby, has been named Caltech associate vice president and deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The retired U.S. Navy captain and emeritus astronaut begins the role on November 30, 2026, at the laboratory that serves as NASA's center for robotic and deep space exploration.

The appointment places a recently flown human spaceflight commander in senior management at JPL, which Caltech manages for NASA. Wiseman joins as the laboratory approaches its 90th anniversary since being founded by Caltech. JPL is NASA's only federally funded research and development center.

During the Artemis II test flight, Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen journeyed 695,081 miles on a lunar flyby, traveling farther than any humans before them. Wiseman joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2009 and served as flight engineer aboard the International Space Station for the 165-day Expedition 41 mission in 2014. He commanded NASA's 21st Extreme Environment Mission Operations expedition in 2016, living for eight days in a habitat on the ocean floor, and served as the agency's chief astronaut from December 2020 to November 2022, overseeing crew flight readiness and safety for all NASA human spaceflight missions.

In his new role, Wiseman will be responsible for strategic leadership, stewardship and continuous improvement of laboratory operations, working in close partnership with Caltech on institutional planning, management and compliance. Serving as Center Management Authority for JPL mission execution, he will ensure operational excellence across mission support functions in accordance with NASA requirements and applicable federal and state regulations. He will also be JPL's primary interface for national security programs.

Wiseman holds a bachelor's degree in computer and systems engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a master's degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Before joining NASA, he flew combat missions and served as a test pilot in the Navy.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised the appointment. "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," Isaacman said. "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."

JPL director and Caltech vice president Dave Gallagher said Wiseman "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." Wiseman said joining the laboratory was a fitting next step. "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," he 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."

Caltech president Ray Jayawardhana said he looked forward to working with Gallagher and Wiseman "as we chart our next era of exploration in partnership with NASA, elevating America's space ambitions to breathtaking new heights."

Wiseman assumes his responsibilities at Caltech and JPL on November 30, 2026, as the laboratory marks nearly 90 years of sending spacecraft into the far reaches of the solar system and beyond.