Victor Glover

Victor Jerome Glover Jr., born on April 30, 1976, is an American naval officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut from the 2013 class. He is known for his impressive career as a pilot, including flying the F/A-18 aircraft and graduating from the United States Air Force Test Pilot School.

In 2020, Glover made history when he piloted the first operational flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon to the International Space Station. During this mission, he served as a flight engineer on Expedition 64 and became the first Black American astronaut to live and work aboard the space station.

In April 2026, Glover piloted the Artemis II lunar flyby mission. This mission was very important because it made him the first person of color to travel beyond low Earth orbit and to journey close to the Moon. With this flight, Glover also became one of the four humans who have traveled the farthest distance from Earth.

Early life and education

Victor Jerome Glover Jr. was born on April 30, 1976, in Pomona, California. His parents, Cynthia Maxwell and Victor Jerome Glover, encouraged his love for science and engineering. He graduated from Ontario High School in 1994, where he played football and was named Athlete of the Year.

Glover went to California Polytechnic State University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in general engineering in 1999. He was the first in his family to go to college. Later, he earned three master's degrees from different schools between 2007 and 2010. He also has certificates in space systems and legislative studies from other universities.

Military career

Victor Glover became an officer in the United States Navy in 1999. He learned to fly at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida and got his pilot wings in 2001. He then flew F/A-18C Hornet planes with VMFAT-101 at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California.

In 2003, he joined VFA-34, based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia. He flew on the last trip of the USS John F. Kennedy to help with Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In 2006, Glover went to the United States Air Force Test Pilot School. After finishing in 2007, he worked as a test pilot with VX-31 at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California. In 2011, he joined VFA-195 at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan. This group flew with the USS George Washington in the Western Pacific Ocean.

When he became an astronaut candidate in 2013, Glover was working for Senator John McCain in Washington, D.C.. During his time as a pilot, Glover flew for 3,000 hours in over 40 different planes and landed on ships more than 400 times. He also flew 24 missions in combat. His callsign, given by his first boss, is "Ike", which means "I know everything".

NASA career

Glover became part of NASA's Astronaut Group 21 in June 2013 and finished his training in 2015.

In August 2018, Glover was named as one of NASA's Commercial Crew astronauts and was chosen for the first operational flight—and the second flight with people overall—of SpaceX's Crew Dragon. As part of this mission, he worked as a station systems flight engineer on Expeditions 64 and Expedition 65 for more than six months. Glover was the first Black American ISS Expedition crewmember to live aboard the International Space Station, rather than just visiting briefly during Space Shuttle assembly missions.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Resilience launched on November 15, 2020, carrying Glover along with NASA astronauts Michael S. Hopkins and Shannon Walker and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi. They arrived at the International Space Station on November 17. During his time there, Glover was chosen as one of 18 astronauts for NASA's Artemis Program on December 9, 2020.

Glover did his first spacewalk on January 27, 2021, working with Hopkins for more than six hours to improve the Columbus module. On his second spacewalk, also with Hopkins, he fixed a broken external camera. During his third spacewalk, he and Kate Rubins started work to upgrade the station's power system in preparation for new solar arrays.

On February 24, 2021, NASA shared a video call between Vice President Kamala Harris and Glover aboard the station. They talked about the history of human spaceflight, viewing Earth from the space station, Glover's important stay aboard the orbiting laboratory, and getting ready for missions from the Moon to Mars.

On April 8, 2023, Glover was named as the pilot of the Artemis II mission, which launched at 22:35 UTC on April 1, 2026, and flew around the Moon on April 6, 2026. He was joined by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Glover is the first African American to leave low Earth orbit and to travel around the Moon, and he and his crew reached the furthest human distance from Earth.

Personal life

Victor Glover is married to Dionna Odom Glover, and they have four daughters. He is a Christian and attends a Churches of Christ congregation in Friendswood, Texas with his wife. He says his faith inspires him and has taken items like a Bible and communion cups to the International Space Station. Glover also enjoys listening to a poem called "Whitey on the Moon" by Gil Scott-Heron on his way to work.