Reid Wiseman named deputy director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Caltech has named the Artemis II commander to a senior leadership role at JPL, where he is due to oversee laboratory operations and mission support from November 30.
Reid Wiseman, the Artemis II commander, has been named deputy director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and a Caltech associate vice president, NASA reported on October 28. He is due to start on November 30, taking a senior role at the laboratory responsible for robotic and deep-space exploration.
Caltech manages JPL for NASA. NASA said Wiseman’s remit will cover strategic leadership, stewardship and improvement of laboratory operations, including planning, management and compliance work with Caltech. The appointment brings a former crewed lunar mission commander into the leadership of an institution that runs spacecraft missions.
What Wiseman will oversee at JPL
NASA said Wiseman will serve as Center Management Authority for JPL mission execution, overseeing mission support functions under NASA requirements and applicable federal and state regulations. He will also be JPL’s primary interface for national security programs. Those duties place institutional operations and coordination with national security programs within his stated brief.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Wiseman had the technical judgment, operational experience and leadership to help JPL. JPL director and Caltech vice president Dave Gallagher said Wiseman knew how to lead teams through high-stakes missions and would strengthen the laboratory’s leadership team.
Wiseman’s experience before the JPL role
Wiseman joined NASA’s astronaut corps in 2009. He was a flight engineer on the 165-day Expedition 41 mission aboard the International Space Station in 2014 and commanded an eight-day underwater mission in 2016. From December 2020 to November 2022, he served as NASA’s chief astronaut, overseeing crew flight readiness and safety for its human spaceflight missions.
Wiseman later commanded Artemis II. F1 Chronicle, in a report carried by Yahoo Sports, said the mission launched on April 1 and its crew traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, farther than humans had previously flown. NASA described Wiseman as an emeritus astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain when it announced his JPL appointment.
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Sources and context
- Caltech Names Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman as NASA JPL DeputyNASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman Says F1 Engineering Beats NASA: ‘They Smoke Us'F1 Chronicle, republished by Yahoo Sports
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.