Who is Victor Glover? Meet the first Black person to fly to the Moon
Victor Glover is the 49-year-old pilot of the Artemis-II mission. He was a student who saw failure, and worked as a naval pilot. He went on to become an astronaut, and is now the first person of colour in the history of humanity to travel to the Moon.
When Nasa's Artemis II rocket lit up the Florida sky on April 2, one name stood out for a reason that goes far beyond engineering or piloting skill.
Victor Glover, the 49-year-old pilot of the mission, became the first person of colour in the history of humanity to travel toward the Moon.
Here is everything you need to know about the man making history right now.
FROM FAILED ENGINEER TO ASTRONAUT
Victor Jerome Glover was born on April 30, 1976, in Pomona, California.
A star athlete in high school, he developed an interest in engineering in his junior year and went on to attend California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. At the university, Glover later admitted, he failed an engineering course as a sophomore.
But he continued to push through, earned his degree, and enlisted in the US Navy.
He went on to become a Naval Aviator and test pilot, logging over 3,000 flight hours across more than 40 aircraft, with over 400 carrier landings and 24 combat missions.
Glover was selected as a Nasa astronaut in 2013.
His first trip to space came in 2020, when he flew to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. He was the first African-American to live aboard the ISS, and not merely visit it. He spent 168 days on board and completing four spacewalks.
WHY ARE GLOVER AND ARTEMIS-II SIGNIFICANT?
Artemis II is a 10-day journey that will take four astronauts swinging around the Moon; the first crewed mission to go that far since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The crew will not land on the surface, but their path could send them farther from Earth than any human has ever travelled, potentially surpassing the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970.
For Glover, the mission carries a weight that is personal as much as professional. He sees his place on the mission as a "force for good," and a chance to inspire others to enter the world of space exploration.
Before every launch, he listens to Gil Scott-Heron's 1970 poem-turned-song "Whitey on the Moon", a commentary on racial inequality during the Apollo era, as a reminder of how far America has come, and how far it still has to go.
The mission will also mark the first time Nasa's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft carry human passengers, paving the way for a targeted crewed Moon landing in 2028.
Glover is not just a pilot on this mission. He is, for millions of people, proof that space truly belongs to everyone.