U.S. Navy pilot to become first person of color to go to the moon

NASA astronaut Victor Glover will serve as one of two pilots on the Artemis II Mission, tentatively scheduled for launch in November 2024.

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(UPI) -- NASA astronaut Victor Glover will become the first person of color to orbit the moon, when the space agency's Artemis II mission launches as early as next year.

Glover, a captain and test pilot in the U.S. Navy, was named earlier this month as part of the four-member crew, which will perform a lunar flyby test before returning to Earth.

Born in Pomona, California, Glover has been an astronaut since 2013. The aviator served as second-in-command for Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon. The second-ever crewed flight for the spacecraft landed successfully in May 2021.

Glover will serve as one of two pilots on the Artemis II Mission, tentatively scheduled for launch in November 2024.

It wasn't the father of four's first time leaving the atmosphere.

Glover also served as Flight Engineer during Expedition 64 aboard the International Space Station. At the time, he became the first Black astronaut to serve on the space station.

During that mission, Glover shared pictures of the sunrise and sunset on his Twitter account, garnering international attention.

"I love sunrises and sunsets. Can you see the bands of color," Glover, who turns 47 later this month, tweeted at the time

"They remind me of the scripture in Psalm 30, 'weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' It seems darkest just before sunrise. I wish you all love and light. Goodnight from the ISS."

After graduating in 1994 from Ontario High School in Ontario, California, Glover went on to get his bachelor of science degree in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University. He earned his wings of gold after completing advanced flight training in 2001.

He served as president of Cal Poly's National Society of Black Engineers while he attended the university.

He now holds a master of science in flight test engineering, as well as a master of science in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a master's in military operational art and science.

He has regularly taken time to speak to schoolchildren about the wonders of space.

""Inspiration is, 'Wow, I didn't realize that I could do that. I want to go to school and study that thing,'" he said during a 2021 interview.

"It turns into decisions."

As a pilot, Glover accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft, including over 400 landings on U.S. Navy aircraft carriers, often considered one of the most difficult tasks a fighter pilot performs. Of those carrier arrested landings, 24 came during combat missions.

He has been deployed across the world both in war and peacetime.

The importance of becoming the first person of color to eventually circle the moon was not lost on Glover.

"This is a big day. We have a lot to celebrate and it's so much more than the four names that have been announced," the veteran aviator said after his name and those of his crewmates were called by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

"This is humanity's crew," Nelson told the audience at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

In 2021, MSNBC named Glover to its list of 23 Black leaders who are shaping history today.

Also earlier this month, Glover shared a photo of the mission patches of the four crew members.

Should Glover and his fellow astronauts successfully execute the approximate 10-day lunar orbit mission, it would pave the way for NASA's planned mission to the surface of the moon.

That subsequent Artemis III Mission is slated to take place no earlier than 2025.

NASA is designing the Artemis missions in conjunction with the Gateway Program. Once built and launched, the orbiting space station will allow for ongoing exploration and research in deep space, including docking ports for multiple visiting spacecraft.

The platform will be used by astronauts to live, work, and prepare for lunar surface missions.

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