Victor Glover Is Set To Make History As The First Black Person To Reach The Moon
Victor Glover will be the first Black astronaut to travel to the moon. Clover is part of NASA’s Artemis II mission, which includes Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen. The four astronauts will embark on a 10-day trip around the moon. The launch will be the first time astronauts have traveled to the moon in more than 50 years, according to NBC News.
Whilst the astronauts will not land on the moon, the launch hopes to pave the way for a moon landing in two years. Glover will be the first person of color to fly into cislunar space, the area between Earth’s orbit and the moon. Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch will also be the first Canadian and the first woman to journey around the moon.
Who is Victor Glover?
In 2020, Glover became the first Black person to serve on an International Space Station expedition, according to the LA Times. He was born in 1976 in Pomona and was inspired by his grandfather, who enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War but was told he couldn’t fly because he was Black.
He gained a degree in engineering and joined the Navy in 1998. He gained 3,500 flying hours in more than 40 aircraft during his 15 years in the military.
About the mission
During the mission, the astronauts will test how Orion operates. This includes manually flying the capsule in Earth orbit to practice steering and lining up the spacecraft for future Moon landings, the BBC reported.
Then, the astronauts will head to a point of kilometers beyond the Moon to test Orion’s life‑support, propulsion, power, and navigation systems. The Artemis IV mission is planned for 2028, when astronauts will head to the Moon’s south pole.
Image: NASA/Robert Markowitz
