Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman appointed JPL deputy director

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman has been appointed associate vice president of the California Institute of Technology and deputy director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Space.com, NASA News, and NewsBytes all reported that the former astronaut and retired United States Navy captain will step into his new leadership positions on November 30, 2026. All four Artemis II crew members have now transitioned to different roles following their lunar flyby, according to Space.com. [1][2][6][8][9][12]

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is NASA's primary facility for robotic and deep space exploration, situated in Southern California. The research and development center is owned and sponsored by NASA, while being managed and administered by Caltech. As FTMQ Space reported earlier, Caltech has managed the laboratory for NASA since its inception following early rocket tests in 1936. [2][10][15]

Wiseman commanded the 10-day Artemis II lunar flyby mission, which launched on April 1, 2026. The uncrewed precursor mission Artemis I paved the way for Artemis II, which served as the first crewed test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The mission carried Wiseman along with NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, send spacecraft and crew on a free-return trajectory around the Moon. [11][13]

Prior to commanding Artemis II, Wiseman served as the 17th chief of the Astronaut Office from 2020 to 2022. Wiseman will begin his dual role at Caltech and JPL at the end of November, where he will help lead the laboratory's ongoing uncrewed planetary science and robotic missions. [2][12][15]