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NASA Astronauts Step Down After Artemis II Moonshot
Confirmed
In Short: NASA announced that Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover will no longer serve as active astronauts but will continue to support the moon exploration program as emeritus astronauts.
NASA announced Wednesday that Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover will no longer serve as active astronauts but will continue to support the moon exploration program as emeritus astronauts. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, 'Together, they took on one of the most challenging missions in human spaceflight and helped return America to the lunar environment.
The two NASA astronauts who led the Artemis II moonshot earlier this year are stepping away from spaceflight. They flew around the moon in April with two other astronauts, setting a new distance record for humanity. Wiseman and Glover will donate their time to train and mentor NASA workers and share their knowledge for future moon missions.
Jeremy Hansen, the Canadian Space Agency astronaut who was part of the Artemis II crew, retired from the Canadian Space Agency in July. This leaves Christina Koch as the only crew member still on the active astronaut rolls. As emeritus astronauts, Wiseman and Glover will focus on youth outreach and spend time with their families, with Glover dedicating his efforts to his wife and four daughters, three of whom attend Cal Poly.
During the event, President Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of creating a U.S. Space Academy for the use of the U.S. Space Force, NASA, and the civilian spaceflight industry. Trump announced the new academy at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he presented Congressional Space Medals of Honor to the Artemis II crew, including Wiseman, Glover, Christina Koch, and Hansen.
What's confirmed
- NASA announced Wednesday that Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover will no longer serve as active astronauts but will continue to support the moon exploration program as emeritus astronauts.
- “Together, they took on one of the most challenging missions in human spaceflight and helped return America to the lunar environment,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said in a statement.
- Artemis II’s Jeremy Hansen retired from the Canadian Space Agency in July.
What's still developing
- He did not mention the second Bush administration's decision to cancel the shuttle program in 2010 (later 2011) or the establishment of NASA's commercial crew and cargo programs, which began under President Barack Obama and, while taking longer than expected, resulted in the development of the SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry ship and Boeing's Starliner capsule.
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- Selected as an astronaut in 2009, the retired Navy captain spent over five months aboard the International Space Station in 2014 and later served as chief astronaut.
- After graduating Cal Poly in 1999, Glover served as a Navy test pilot before NASA selected him in 2013.
- He piloted SpaceX’s second operational crew flight, spending nearly six months on the space station in 2020 and 2021.