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Commander Reid Wiseman, credits NASA
Reid Wiseman, the commander of Artemis II, will become deputy director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and associate vice president of Caltech on November 30, 2026. Caltech and JPL announced the appointment on October 28, 2026. It moves a veteran of human spaceflight into the second most senior seat at the laboratory behind many of NASA’s robotic missions to Mars and the outer planets.
Key facts
- Who: Reid Wiseman, emeritus NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain.
- New roles: Deputy director of JPL and associate vice president of Caltech.
- Start date: November 30, 2026.
- Reports within: a leadership team headed by JPL director Dave Gallagher, who is also a Caltech vice president.
- Previous mission: Commander of Artemis II, the crewed lunar flyby with Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.
- Source: Official JPL announcement, release 2026-077.
Who is Reid Wiseman
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. He flew combat missions as a Navy pilot and worked as a test pilot before joining NASA’s astronaut corps in 2009.
His flight record is varied. In 2014 he served as flight engineer on the International Space Station during Expedition 41, a 165-day stay. In 2016 he commanded NASA’s 21st Extreme Environment Mission Operations expedition (NEEMO 21), living eight days in an undersea habitat. From December 2020 to November 2022 he was NASA’s chief astronaut, responsible for crew flight readiness and crew safety across all NASA human spaceflight missions.
With Artemis II, NASA credits his crew with a 695,081-mile (about 1.12 million km) journey around the Moon, taking humans farther from Earth than anyone before them.
What a JPL deputy director actually does
The job is about running the laboratory, not designing spacecraft. According to the announcement, Wiseman will be responsible for:
- strategic leadership, stewardship and continuous improvement of laboratory operations;
- institutional planning, management and compliance, in close partnership with Caltech;
- acting as Center Management Authority for JPL mission execution, ensuring operational excellence in mission support functions in line with NASA requirements and federal and state regulations;
- serving as JPL’s primary interface for national security programs.
JPL is NASA’s only federally funded research and development center. It is managed for NASA by Caltech, which founded it, and the laboratory is approaching its 90th anniversary.
Why a crewed-flight commander for a robotic lab?
JPL builds and operates spacecraft such as Mars rovers, Voyager and Europa Clipper, and runs NASA’s Deep Space Network. Crews do not fly them. So the choice may look surprising at first.
This is our reading, not a statement from the release. The role centers on operational discipline, risk management and accountability across large teams, and those are skills Wiseman practiced as a test pilot, as a mission commander and as the person responsible for crew safety at NASA. Crewed and robotic programs also increasingly overlap in the Moon-to-Mars effort, so someone who knows both sides of NASA has a clear use.
In the announcement, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman credited Wiseman’s technical judgment and operational experience. Gallagher emphasized his experience leading teams through high-stakes missions. Wiseman himself said that seeing the Sun disappear behind the Moon left “no words in the English vocabulary” to describe it.
What to watch next
- December 2026 onward: how Wiseman divides responsibilities with Gallagher in practice, especially on mission execution and national security work.
- The 90th anniversary: JPL is positioning its next decades of exploration around it, and the new deputy will be part of that planning.
- Caltech governance: the associate vice president title ties the role directly to the university that manages the laboratory.
Frequently asked questions
When does Reid Wiseman start at JPL?
On November 30, 2026.
Is Reid Wiseman still an active NASA astronaut?
No. NASA describes him as an emeritus astronaut and a retired Navy captain.
Will he lead JPL?
No. JPL’s director is Dave Gallagher. Wiseman will be deputy director.
What is Artemis II?
The first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis program, a lunar flyby carrying four astronauts: Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen.
Why does the Center Management Authority role matter?
It makes the holder responsible for the execution of JPL’s missions within NASA requirements and applicable regulations.
Source
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech Names Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman as NASA JPL Deputy, October 28, 2026.
Published October 29, 2026, by The SpaceInfo Club.
