NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are transitioning to emeritus status after completing a historic flight around the Moon earlier this year, the agency has confirmed. The two men will remain involved with NASA as advisers and mentors while the agency accelerates work on Artemis III and later lunar missions.
The change marks a new phase for the crew members of Artemis II, the mission that carried humans farther from Earth than any previous spaceflight. Their experience with the Orion spacecraft and deep-space operations is expected to be particularly useful as NASA works toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface.
Emeritus status at NASA typically allows former active-duty astronauts to keep contributing their expertise without remaining in the flight rotation. For Glover and Wiseman, that means supporting teams that are developing procedures, training plans, and technical solutions for the next phases of the Artemis program.
Artemis II was a crewed test flight that sent astronauts around the Moon and back, validating Orion's life-support, navigation, and communications systems under real deep-space conditions. The mission built on the uncrewed Artemis I flight and set the stage for Artemis III, which is intended to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time in more than five decades.
Glover and Wiseman bring firsthand knowledge of what it takes to operate Orion far from Earth. That kind of operational experience is difficult to replicate in simulations, and NASA has often relied on veteran astronauts to help refine spacecraft design and mission timelines based on what they observed in flight.
Their move to emeritus status comes as NASA continues to prepare for Artemis III and future missions that could include longer stays on the Moon and, eventually, crewed journeys to Mars. The agency has described the Artemis campaign as a step-by-step effort to establish a sustained human presence beyond low Earth orbit.
In their new roles, the two astronauts are expected to work with current crews, engineers, and flight controllers. Mentoring is a central part of that work, as newer astronauts prepare for missions that will demand many of the same skills Glover and Wiseman used during Artemis II.
NASA has not announced a specific date for Artemis III, but the program remains a priority for the agency and its international partners. The transition of Glover and Wiseman to emeritus status does not remove them from the program; instead, it shifts their focus toward supporting the teams that will carry the next missions forward.
For a program that depends on lessons learned from each flight, keeping experienced deep-space astronauts engaged in an advisory capacity could help NASA avoid repeating mistakes and speed up decision-making. Their perspective on Orion's performance and on the realities of lunar-distance operations is likely to inform training and hardware choices in the months ahead.
The announcement also highlights a broader pattern in human spaceflight: as missions grow more ambitious, the knowledge held by veteran astronauts becomes a strategic resource. Glover and Wiseman now join that pool of advisers as NASA pushes toward the lunar surface and beyond.
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