Artemis II Commander and Pilot Retire from Active NASA Duty

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover are stepping away from active spaceflight at NASA, transitioning to emeritus roles after leading the historic lunar flyby earlier this year, according to reports from The Associated Press.

The announcement from NASA details how Wiseman and Glover will no longer serve as active astronauts but will continue supporting the moon exploration program. As emeritus astronauts, the two veterans will donate their time to train and mentor space agency workers and share their technical knowledge for upcoming lunar missions. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated that together they took on one of the most challenging missions in human spaceflight and helped return America to the lunar environment.

Career Transitions and Academic Leadership

Glover has accepted a leadership position at his alma mater, California Polytechnic State University, located in San Luis Obispo. His new role at Cal Poly took effect Sept. 1, the same day he retired from the Navy. According to the university, Glover will help shape long-term strategies and inspire students to study science and engineering. Three of his daughters are currently enrolled at the institution, while his oldest daughter has already graduated from there.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Glover explained that his transition is an expansion rather than an ending.

This is not a leaving … for me, this is opening the aperture, not closing it down.

Victor Glover

Glover also noted that he wanted to focus his efforts on young people and spend more time with his wife and four daughters instead of waiting to command a moon-landing mission. Wiseman’s status change takes effect later this month, though his future plans have not been disclosed by the space agency. Selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2009, Wiseman is a retired Navy captain who spent more than five months aboard the International Space Station in 2014 and later served as the agency’s chief astronaut.

A Shifting Roster for Future Artemis Missions

The departure of Wiseman and Glover follows the July retirement of Artemis II crew member Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, as reported by The Associated Press. These career moves leave Christina Koch as the sole crew member remaining on active astronaut rolls from the four-person team that flew around the moon in April, setting a new distance record for humanity.

The crew’s flight earlier this year drew widespread attention for both technical execution and reflective commentary. Glover stood out for his perspective on spaceflight, observing from space that Earth is an oasis in a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe where humanity exists as one. Wiseman also drew public attention when he and his crew requested permission to name a lunar crater after his late wife Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020.

Last month, President Donald Trump presented the entire Artemis II crew with the Congressional Space Medal of Honor during a ceremony held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. With Wiseman and Glover moving to the sidelines as emeritus mentors, NASA is utilizing a new approach to retain and apply the expertise of veterans who have flown beyond low-Earth orbit.