I am standing on the shoulders of so many people who made this possible. — Victor Glover
Pomona, California, 1976
Victor Jerome Glover Jr. was born on April 30, 1976, in Pomona, California — nine days after the researcher tracking this mission, and in the same bicentennial year. Both born in 1976, the year America turned two hundred. Both children of the same moment in time. He was raised in Ontario, California, in the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles, where the San Gabriel Mountains meet the valley floor.
At Ontario High School, Glover was an athlete before he was an aviator. Quarterback and running back on the football team, he was named the school's Athlete of the Year in 1994. The qualities that would later make him a test pilot and an astronaut — physical courage, situational awareness, the ability to make fast decisions under pressure — were already there on Friday nights under the lights.
He enrolled at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo — Cal Poly SLO — and graduated in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in General Engineering. Then he chose the Navy.
Wings of Gold
Victor Glover became a Naval Aviator and flew the F/A-18 Hornet, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and the EA-18G Growler — the electronic warfare variant that jams enemy radar and communications. He accumulated more than 3,000 flight hours in over 40 aircraft types. He made more than 400 carrier arrested landings — each one a controlled collision with a moving ship in open ocean, often at night, often in weather. He flew 24 combat missions over Iraq.
In 2007, he graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base — the same desert airstrip where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, where the X-15 touched the edge of space, where the Space Shuttle first landed. Test pilots don't just fly aircraft. They fly aircraft that haven't been proven yet, at the edges of the flight envelope, and write the reports that determine whether anyone else ever will.
Between 2007 and 2010, he earned three master's degrees from military institutions, stacking credentials with the same relentless discipline that put him in the cockpit. He rose to the rank of Captain in the United States Navy.
The Numbers
NASA Astronaut
In 2013, NASA selected Victor Glover as a member of the 21st astronaut class. At the time of his selection, he was serving as a Legislative Fellow in the United States Senate — a Navy captain working the corridors of Congress, learning how policy shapes the institutions that had shaped him. NASA pulled him out of the Senate and into the astronaut corps.
SpaceX Crew-1 — Dragon "Resilience" (November 2020 – May 2021)
Glover served as pilot of SpaceX Crew-1, the first operational mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. He launched on November 15, 2020, aboard the capsule Resilience, and spent 168 days aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64. He became the first Black astronaut to serve on a long-duration ISS mission.
During his stay, he conducted four spacewalks, working outside the station in the vacuum of space to upgrade power systems and install equipment. He returned to Earth on May 2, 2021.
I think one of the most beautiful parts of our planet is its diversity. We need that diversity in space exploration too. — Victor Glover
Artemis II — Pilot
On April 3, 2023, NASA announced the crew of Artemis II. Victor Glover was named Pilot — the person who flies the spacecraft. Not a mission specialist. Not a passenger. The pilot. The one at the controls.
As Pilot of Orion — callsign Integrity — Glover is responsible for vehicle systems and manual maneuvering. During proximity operations with the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, he manually piloted Integrity, approaching within 30 feet of the spent upper stage. Glover at the stick. Hands on the controls. Flying the ship.
When the service module engine fired for trans-lunar injection — the five-minute, forty-nine-second burn that added 1,272 feet per second and sent four human beings out of Earth orbit toward the Moon — Victor Glover was at the controls. He is the pilot. He is flying the ship.
Timeline
- 1976 Born April 30 in Pomona, California. Raised in Ontario, CA. Bicentennial year — nine days after the researcher.
- 1994 Ontario High School — quarterback, running back, Athlete of the Year.
- 1999 BS General Engineering, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly SLO).
- 2000s Naval Aviator. F/A-18 Hornet, Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler. 3,000+ flight hours, 400+ carrier landings, 24 combat missions over Iraq.
- 2007 Graduates Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards AFB.
- 2007–2010 Three master's degrees from military institutions.
- 2013 Selected as NASA astronaut (Group 21) while serving as Legislative Fellow in the US Senate.
- 2020 SpaceX Crew-1 pilot. Launches November 15 aboard Dragon Resilience. First Black astronaut on long-duration ISS mission.
- 2020–2021 168 days aboard ISS. Four spacewalks. Expedition 64.
- 2021 Returns to Earth, May 2.
- 2023 Selected as Artemis II Pilot, April 3. First Black astronaut assigned to a lunar mission.
- 2026 Artemis II launches April 1. Victor Glover flies Integrity beyond Earth orbit. The first Black astronaut to leave low Earth orbit. The first person of color to travel to the vicinity of the Moon.
Connection to Mission
The Arc of a Door Opening
In 1962, Captain Ed Dwight was the first Black astronaut candidate. He was selected for the Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base — the same desert where Glover would later graduate from Test Pilot School. Dwight was qualified. He was ready. The door did not open. He was not selected for NASA's astronaut corps. The program moved on without him.
In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first Black American in space aboard STS-8. The door cracked. In 2020, Victor Glover spent 168 days on the International Space Station. The door opened wider. On April 1, 2026, Glover left Earth orbit entirely. The door Ed Dwight pushed against is the one Victor Glover flies through.
The line from Dwight to Bluford to Glover is the arc of a door opening. It took sixty-four years.
Dwight → Bluford → Glover
1962: Ed Dwight, qualified and ready, was not allowed through the door.
1983: Guion Bluford reached low Earth orbit. The door cracked.
2026: Victor Glover flies to the Moon. The door is open.
The Trajectories She Calculated
Katherine Johnson calculated the trajectories that made Apollo possible. She did the math for Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Shuttle — by hand, verified by hand, trusted over machines. The trans-lunar injection math that sent Artemis II toward the Moon descends directly from her work. She calculated the trajectories. Victor Glover flies them.
Bicentennial
Victor Glover was born on April 30, 1976. The researcher tracking this mission was born on April 21, 1976. Nine days apart. Both bicentennial babies — born in the year America turned two hundred. Both children of the same spring, the same cultural moment, the same turning of the calendar. One of them is flying to the Moon. The other is writing it down.
Personal
Victor Glover is married to Dionna Odom-Glover. They have four daughters. He is a man of deep faith who has spoken publicly about the role of spirituality in his life and work. He carried that faith into orbit for 168 days, and he carries it now, past the Moon.
When I look out the window at our beautiful planet, I see the work of many hands, and I'm just honored to be one of them. — Victor Glover