All four Artemis II astronauts transition away from active spaceflight
NASA's Artemis II crew members have moved into new roles that preclude near-term flights, marking a significant shift for the team that recently completed the agency's first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years.
What happened
On October 13, NASA announced that Christina Koch, mission specialist on Artemis II, will become acting deputy chief engineer effective November 1 and transition to management astronaut status, making her ineligible for future spaceflight assignments. Her three crewmates have made similar career moves: Commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover became emeritus astronauts in September with planning and advisory duties; Glover is also working full-time at Cal Poly. Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency became a reservist in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the past month. Artemis II was a 10-day crewed lunar flyby in an Orion capsule, the first human spaceflight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Context
The departure of all four Artemis II astronauts from active flight status means none are positioned for immediate return to space. NASA's next scheduled mission in the program is Artemis III, a docking test in low Earth orbit scheduled to launch in 2027 with a different crew announced in June. The following mission, Artemis IV, is planned to land astronauts near the moon's south pole in 2028, but the crew for that landing has not yet been announced. Koch's technical background—holding degrees in electrical engineering and physics, having conducted the longest space mission by a woman and the first three all-female spacewalks—positions her to bring both engineering expertise and operational spaceflight experience to her new oversight role across NASA's programs.