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Reid Wiseman: Wife, Kids, Salary, Retirement, and NASA Career

Harry Jack Howard Carter • 2026-10-14 • Reviewed by Hanna Berg

Most of us will never see Earth from orbit, yet Reid Wiseman’s name keeps surfacing in conversations about who gets to go. He commanded Artemis II, NASA’s crewed flight test around the Moon, after 27 years in the U.S. Navy and a 2014 stay on the International Space Station; the public career is thoroughly documented, but the personal questions — his wife, his children, his salary, his retirement — are not, and that gap is where the record goes quiet.

Born: November 11, 1975 ·
NASA selection: 2009 ·
Military service: U.S. Navy captain; 27-year veteran ·
Public role: Artemis II commander ·
Children: Two teenagers; listed as only parent

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
2What’s unclear
  • What happened to his wife — no primary source explains it
  • His children’s exact ages
  • His exact NASA salary
  • Whether a formal retirement announcement exists
3Timeline signal
  • 2009 — selected by NASA; the start of his astronaut career (Wikipedia)
  • 2014 — Expedition 40/41 on the International Space Station (Wikipedia)
  • 2023 — named commander of Artemis II (Wikipedia)
  • 2026 — commanded Artemis II; listed afterward as astronaut emeritus (Wikipedia)
4What’s next
  • No post-Artemis II assignment appears in the reviewed record
  • Astronaut emeritus is the latest public designation
  • Salary, retirement, and family questions remain open

Reid Wiseman at a glance

Eight data points, one pattern: the public record is exact about the career and quiet about the private life. The military, selection, and command lines are official; the family and residence lines rest on Wiseman’s own profile.

Label Value
Born November 11, 1975 (NASA’s official biography)
Birthplace Baltimore, Maryland
Military service U.S. Navy captain; 27-year veteran (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)
NASA selection 2009 (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Artemis II role Commander
Current NASA status Astronaut emeritus
Children Two teenagers; listed as only parent (LinkedIn)
Listed residence Friendswood, Texas (LinkedIn)

The pattern in the table is the point: every career line has a source behind it, and every personal line traces back to one first-person profile.

What happened to Reid Wiseman’s wife?

The short, sourced answer: no public record explains it. NASA’s official biography describes Wiseman as a father — and never names a wife. His own LinkedIn profile describes him as the “only parent to two teenagers.” Neither source says what happened in his marriage.

That combination matters. A biography that names his schools, his military units, and his missions but skips a spouse is not an oversight; it is a boundary the record does not cross. Search results around this question are full of guesses. The verified material has no guess to offer.

Is Reid Wiseman currently married?

What to watch

A NASA bio that says “father” and never says “husband” is an absence of confirmation, not a confirmation of anything.

  • NASA’s biography: names Wiseman as a father, names no spouse
  • LinkedIn: “only parent to two teenagers”
  • No public statement from Wiseman or NASA addresses his marital status in the reviewed sources

There is no sourced “yes” or “no.” The phrase on his LinkedIn profile implies he is raising his children without a co-parent, but the profile does not explain how the household became a one-parent household, and no other reviewed source fills that in. On paper, the answer is: the record contains no spouse.

This is where careful sourcing matters most. The question invites rumor; the record answers with silence. The honest answer is simpler and less dramatic: not documented.

Is Reid Wiseman a single dad?

  • His LinkedIn profile: “only parent to two teenagers”
  • NASA’s biography: independently refers to him as a father

Based on his own words, yes. Two independent lines of evidence — his profile and NASA’s bio — agree that Wiseman is a father of two. The single-parent framing rests entirely on his “only parent” wording. It is the most direct personal statement in the public record, and it is also the only one.

Does Reid Wiseman have any kids?

  • Two children, per his LinkedIn profile
  • “Father” appears in NASA’s official biography

Yes — two. Both sources agree on the number, and no reviewed source mentions additional children. This is one of the few family questions with a clean, consistent answer.

How old are Reid Wiseman’s daughters?

The limitation

“Teenagers” is the entire public answer. Even the word “daughters” comes from search phrasing, not from NASA or from Wiseman’s profile.

No reviewed source gives exact ages. LinkedIn stops at “teenagers”; NASA does not mention the children in detail at all. No source confirms their names, birthdays, or gender. If a specific age appears anywhere online, it did not come from the verified record.

Bottom line: Wiseman is a father of two teenagers and describes himself as the “only parent” on LinkedIn. What happened in his marriage is not documented in any reviewed source, so specific claims about it are unverified.

The implication: the question “what happened to Reid Wiseman’s wife” has no sourced answer right now. The accurate response is “unresolved” — not “confirmed,” not “denied.”

Is Reid Wiseman retiring?

Not according to the reviewed record — at least not yet. Wiseman’s public status changed after Artemis II, but neither NASA nor Wiseman has published a retirement announcement in the sources reviewed here.

What is Reid Wiseman doing now?

  • Listed as a NASA astronaut emeritus (Wikipedia’s biography)
  • Commanded Artemis II — the crewed lunar flyby with Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen (National Space Centre)
  • No post-Artemis II assignment appears in the reviewed sources

In practice, “astronaut emeritus” reads as a public status, not a job description. It keeps Wiseman tied to the agency while freeing him from an active flight rotation. The notable detail is the absence of a next assignment: the reviewed sources show the command, then the honorific, then silence.

What did Reid Wiseman do in the U.S. Navy?

  • Became a naval aviator in 1999 (National Space Centre)
  • Flew F-14s and deployed to the Middle East (NASA’s crew interview)
  • Graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 2003 (Smithsonian)
  • Retired as a captain with 27 years of service (NASA/Smithsonian)

The Navy is the foundation of the NASA career. Wiseman became an aviator in 1999, flew F-14 fighters, deployed to the Middle East, and added test-pilot training in 2003. NASA and Smithsonian sources describe the result the same way: a Navy captain with 27 years of service. That background — fighter cockpit, test-pilot school, engineering — is the profile that tends to land in command seats.

The pattern: the record shows a long, carefully built military and space career, then a smooth step to emeritus status. “Retiring” would close the story; “emeritus” leaves the next chapter unwritten.

Bottom line: Wiseman is listed as a NASA astronaut emeritus after commanding Artemis II. No formal retirement announcement exists in the reviewed sources, and no post-Artemis II assignment has been published.

The implication: Wiseman’s current status as astronaut emeritus suggests a shift away from active flight duty, but without a formal retirement announcement, the record leaves his long-term role open.

How much money does Reid Wiseman make a year?

The most searched question about Wiseman is also the least answered one. Individual salaries are not part of NASA’s astronaut biographies, and the reviewed sources publish no figure for him.

Do astronauts have a salary?

  • NASA civil-service astronauts are salaried federal employees
  • Their pay follows the government’s grade-and-step system
  • Wiseman’s specific grade, step, and total compensation are not in the reviewed record

Yes — with a catch. NASA’s civil-service astronauts are federal employees paid through the government’s grade-and-step schedule, not through private contracts or appearance fees. The schedule itself is public; an individual astronaut’s placement on it is not. No reviewed source connects Wiseman to a specific grade, step, or dollar amount, so any number attached to his name is an estimate or a guess.

Who has the highest salary in NASA?

The catch

No reviewed source names NASA’s highest-paid employee. The agency’s public biographies do not rank pay, so a definitive answer does not exist in the verified record.

This question appears frequently in search data, but the reviewed results do not answer it. NASA does not publish a payroll ranking, and the largest federal salaries are not necessarily astronaut salaries. Without a published list, naming a single person is guesswork.

The takeaway: the salary question is a data gap, not a secret. Wiseman’s pay is a private federal detail, and the useful response to a specific figure online is skepticism.

What education does Reid Wiseman have?

This is the section where the record finally cooperates. Wiseman’s degrees and training are documented across NASA and Smithsonian profiles, and they explain the career: engineering plus flight testing.

Is Reid Wiseman an engineer?

  • Bachelor’s degree in computer and systems engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (NASA’s crew interview)
  • Master’s degree in systems engineering, Johns Hopkins University; U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, 2003 (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)

Yes. NASA’s interview with the Artemis II crew notes his undergraduate degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The Smithsonian’s profile adds a master’s in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University and his 2003 graduation from the Naval Test Pilot School. The test-pilot piece is the telling one: it is the bridge between engineering and commanding a spacecraft.

Why this matters: the résumé is not random. Command slots in human spaceflight draw from the same funnel — engineering depth plus test-flight experience — and Wiseman’s education sits at that exact intersection.

Where does Reid Wiseman live now?

The address part of this question is easier than the personal part. Wiseman’s LinkedIn profile lists Friendswood, Texas, a city near NASA’s Johnson Space Center; his NASA biography points back to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was born.

What ethnicity is Reid Wiseman?

The gap

Ethnicity, religion, and height appear nowhere in the reviewed NASA, Smithsonian, or Wikipedia material. There is no sourced answer to give.

The official record does not mention ethnicity — or religion, or height — which are the three personal details people search for most. That is not a coded answer; it is an absence of information. The only location facts with sources behind them are his birthplace in Baltimore and his current listed residence in Friendswood.

The boundary: Wiseman’s public profiles are detailed about the cockpit and silent on identity demographics. The silence is the entire sourced answer.

Reid Wiseman: career timeline

Ten dates, one arc: from a Baltimore childhood to the commander’s seat on Artemis II, then to emeritus status. The dates below draw on NASA’s official biography, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Encyclopaedia Britannica, the National Space Centre, The New York Times, and Wikipedia.

Date Event
Born Gregory Reid Wiseman in Baltimore, Maryland (NASA)
Became a U.S. Navy aviator (National Space Centre)
Graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (Smithsonian)
Selected by NASA as one of nine members of the 20th astronaut class (NASA)
Launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-13M (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Served as flight engineer on Expedition 40/41; about 165 days in space; more than 300 experiments completed with the crew (NASA)
Took part in NASA’s NEEMO extreme-environment mission (The New York Times)
Served as chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office (NASA)
Named commander of Artemis II (Smithsonian)
Commanded Artemis II; subsequently listed as NASA astronaut emeritus (Wikipedia)

The rhythm of the record: long preparation, one intense flight year, then a quiet step sideways. The most revealing gap in the timeline is the missing “retired” entry.

What’s confirmed and what’s not

Confirmed items in this story trace to NASA, Smithsonian, Britannica, or Wiseman’s own profile. The open questions below trace to search queries, not to records.

Confirmed by records

  • Born November 11, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland (NASA)
  • U.S. Navy captain with 27 years of service (NASA/Smithsonian)
  • Selected by NASA as an astronaut in June 2009 (NASA)
  • Commanded Artemis II (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)
  • Has two teenage children and is listed as the only parent on his LinkedIn profile (LinkedIn)
  • Lives in Friendswood, Texas, according to his LinkedIn profile (LinkedIn)
  • NASA describes him as a pilot, father, and engineer (NASA)

Still unresolved

  • Wife’s current status, or what happened in his marriage
  • Exact ages of his children
  • Whether his two children are daughters, as search phrasing implies
  • Exact graduation dates for his degrees
  • Ethnicity
  • Religion
  • Height
  • Sibling details
  • Exact NASA salary, including any post-command pay

The split is the finding: records describe a career, not a full life. The unresolved list is longer than the confirmed list — and that is the accurate picture of the public record.

In their own words

Two descriptions of the same man: the official one leads with the résumé, and the personal one leads with the kids.

“A 27-year Navy veteran, a pilot, a father, an engineer, and a Baltimore native.”

— NASA, official astronaut biography

The NASA bio folds “father” into a list of credentials — one identity marker among five. It confirms parenthood, and it says nothing else about family.

“Only parent to two teenagers.”

— Reid Wiseman, via his public LinkedIn profile

That line is the closest thing to a personal statement about his family in the public record. It answers one question — yes, he is a single parent — and opens another: what happened, and when. The record closes at the door.

The contrast is the story: a biography that documents everything about flight, and a personal profile that documents almost nothing about home. Readers have to respect that boundary, because the sources do.

Where things stand

Reid Wiseman’s public life is one of the better-documented astronaut résumés available: Navy aviator, test pilot, engineer, ISS flight engineer, chief of the Astronaut Office, Artemis II commander, and now astronaut emeritus. His private life is a much thinner record — two teenage children, a self-described “only parent,” and no public statement on marriage, salary, or retirement. For journalists and readers following the Artemis program, the discipline is simple: treat NASA’s biography as the biography, and treat everything else as an open question until Wiseman or the agency addresses it.

Additional sources

nasa.gov

Frequently asked questions

Who is Reid Wiseman?

Reid Wiseman is a NASA astronaut, U.S. Navy captain, and engineer who commanded Artemis II. NASA’s official biography describes him as “a 27-year Navy veteran, a pilot, a father, an engineer, and a Baltimore native.”

Where was Reid Wiseman born?

In Baltimore, Maryland, on November 11, 1975. NASA’s official biography identifies him as a Baltimore native.

Did Reid Wiseman fly on the International Space Station before Artemis II?

Yes. He launched aboard Soyuz TMA-13M in May 2014 and served as flight engineer on Expeditions 40 and 41, spending about 165 days in space.

Why is Reid Wiseman called an astronaut emeritus?

Wikipedia’s biography lists him as a NASA astronaut emeritus after his Artemis II command. No formal retirement announcement appears in the reviewed sources.

What is Reid Wiseman’s religion?

Not stated in any reviewed source. It is treated as private.

Does Reid Wiseman have a brother?

No public record of siblings appears in the reviewed NASA, Smithsonian, Wikipedia, or LinkedIn material.

How tall is Reid Wiseman?

Height is not listed in NASA’s official biography or in the other reviewed profiles.

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Harry Jack Howard Carter

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Harry Jack Howard Carter

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