Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover, the commander and pilot of NASA's Artemis II mission, have become the first astronauts to join the agency's new emeritus programme, five months after returning from their lunar flyby. The status allows them to formally step back from active astronaut duty while continuing to train and mentor NASA's workforce and pursue outside careers, marking a departure from the traditional binary of full retirement or a management role within the agency.

Glover has taken a full-time leadership post at his alma mater, Cal Poly, but has agreed to provide unpaid advisory support to NASA on the Orion spacecraft and hopes to help establish a new United States Space Academy. Wiseman intends to keep sharing his spaceflight experience with colleagues preparing for Artemis III, which is not expected before mid-2027 and will test Orion's docking with commercial lunar landers. The article notes historical precedents for astronauts stepping away and returning, including Scott Carpenter, Edward Gibson, Tony England and Anna Lee Fisher, though none previously held a formal "emeritus" title.