For the first time in more than 50 years, humanity is heading back to the moon, and this time, the journey is making long-overdue history. Victor Glover is officially set to become the first Black astronaut to travel to the moon as a key member of NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission.
The highly anticipated 10-day expedition sent a four-person crew around the moon, marking a massive milestone for space exploration and representation. Joining Glover are Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. The crew is breaking barriers across the board: Koch will be the first woman to make the lunar journey, Hansen will be the first Canadian, and Glover will become the first person of color to fly into cislunar space, the vast area between Earth’s orbit and the moon.
While the Artemis II crew will not physically touch down on the lunar surface, their mission is incredibly crucial. They are paving the way for a targeted moon landing in about two years.
During their 10 days in space, the crew will rigorously test the Orion spacecraft’s capabilities. This includes manually flying the capsule in Earth’s orbit to practice the precise steering and alignment needed for future lunar landings. From there, they will travel kilometers beyond the moon to test Orion’s life-support, propulsion, power, and navigation systems.
For Glover, breaking barriers in space is familiar territory. In 2020, he made history as the first Black person to serve as a crew member on an International Space Station (ISS) expedition. Born in Pomona, California, in 1976, his journey to the stars is rooted in a deeply moving family legacy. Glover was heavily inspired by his grandfather, who enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War but was tragically told he could not fly simply because he was Black.
Carrying that deferred dream forward, Glover earned an engineering degree and joined the U.S. Navy in 1998. He spent 15 years in the military, racking up an impressive 3,500 flying hours in more than 40 different aircraft before setting his sights on NASA.
Now, he is taking his grandfather’s legacy all the way to the moon.
Glover and crew’s flight is a vital stepping stone for NASA’s broader ambitions, including the Artemis IV mission slated for 2028, which aims to send astronauts to the Moon’s south pole.
