Christina Koch will leave active astronaut duty on 1 November to become NASA’s acting deputy chief engineer. All four Artemis II astronauts have now moved into roles that do not include future spaceflight assignments.
01Summary
- 01NASA said on Tuesday, 13 October, that Christina Koch will start as acting deputy chief engineer on 1 November.
- 02Koch will move to management astronaut status and will no longer be eligible for future spaceflight assignments.
- 03Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover became emeritus astronauts last month, while Jeremy Hansen became a reservist in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
- 04Artemis II was a 10-day trip around the Moon in an Orion capsule and was the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis programme.
- 05Koch will succeed Katherine Van Hooser, who retires on 21 October after more than 35 years at NASA.
02Why it matters
The change means one of NASA’s best-known Artemis II astronauts will now help oversee engineering rather than fly. It also marks the point at which all four Artemis II crewmates have stepped away from active spaceflight roles.
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