Reid Wiseman

Reid Wiseman is an astronaut and naval officer who commanded NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo 17. Wiseman earned 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 served as a naval aviator and test pilot, flying combat missions during operations in the Middle East before being selected as a NASA astronaut.

Wiseman's spaceflight experience includes a 165-day mission aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer for Expedition 40/41, where he and his crewmates completed more than 300 scientific experiments in human physiology, medicine, physical science, Earth science, and astrophysics. The crew set a milestone by completing a record 82 hours of research in a single week. Between his International Space Station mission and his command of Artemis II, Wiseman served as chief of the Astronaut Office, acting as the primary liaison between NASA's astronaut corps and agency leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As commander of Artemis II, Wiseman led a four-person crew on a lunar flyby mission aboard the Orion spacecraft. At age 50, he became the oldest person to travel beyond low Earth orbit and the first person to command a lunar mission since Apollo 17. Wiseman and his crew reached the farthest distance from Earth that humans have traveled, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13. His career highlights expertise in aerospace engineering, human spaceflight, and leadership in NASA's lunar exploration initiatives.