Victor Glover (OG).Victor Glover
Victor Glover is an accomplished astronaut and naval aviator, born on April 30, 1976, in Pomona, California. He gained recognition as a star athlete in high school before pursuing a degree in engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. After graduating in 1999, Glover enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became a naval aviator, logging over 3,000 flight hours on various aircraft and participating in combat missions. In 2013, he was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate and completed his training by 2015. Glover made history as the first Black American to live aboard the International Space Station (ISS) during his role in the SpaceX Crew-1 mission, where he spent 168 days and conducted four spacewalks. In 2023, he was named the pilot for the Artemis II mission, aiming to return humans to the moon, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. Outside of his professional achievements, Glover is a family man, married to Dionna Odom, and they have four daughters.
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Victor Glover
- Born: April 30, 1976
- Place of Birth: Pomona, California
Background
Astronaut Victor Jerome Glover was born on April 30, 1976, in Pomona, California. Glover loved sports and was a star athlete in high school, earning the 1994 Athlete of the Year Award at Ontario High School in Ontario, California. In his junior year, he developed an interest in engineering and decided to attend California Polytechnic (Cal Poly) State University, San Luis Obispo, upon graduation from high school.
While a sophomore at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Glover said he failed an engineering course. A professor came to him after and told Glover that to be successful, he would have to work hard to achieve his goals. Glover took the advice to heart and put the extra effort into his studies and career.
Glover earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cal Poly in 1999, after which he decided to enlist in the US Navy. He had originally wanted to be a Navy SEAL, but his father convinced him that his engineering degree would make him a potential astronaut candidate. Glover attended flight school in Florida and Texas and earned his naval aviator wings in 2001. He served aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy during Operation Iraqi Freedom in the mid-2000s. In 2007, he earned a master of science degree in flight test engineering from Air University at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Two years later, he earned a master’s degree in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in California. In 2010, he earned a master of military operational art and science from Air University in Montgomery, Alabama.
Life’s Work
Glover entered the Air Force Test Pilot School on an exchange program from the Navy and was named a test pilot in 2007. He served with the Dust Devils of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX‐31 and was later assigned to the Dambusters of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA‐195, which was stationed in Japan. During his naval career, Glover logged more than three thousand flight hours in more than forty different aircraft, including the F/A‐18 Hornet, Super Hornet, and EA‐18G Growler. He also flew twenty-four combat missions.
In 2012, Glover was serving in Washington, DC, as a legislative fellow when he was selected as an astronaut candidate by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and, a year later, was named to the 2013 NASA astronaut class. He completed astronaut training in 2015 and was named to the crew of the first operational flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in 2018. SpaceX is a private manufacturer of aerospace technology founded by entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2002. The Crew Dragon is a reusable spacecraft that can carry four crew members.
The first crewed flight of the Crew Dragon occurred in May 2020, but this was considered a test flight. Glover was named pilot of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission, the first operational mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft Resilience. The mission launched on November 16, 2020, and docked with the International Space Station (ISS) a day later. Glover spent 168 days aboard the ISS, where he served as flight engineer and completed four spacewalks. He and the crew of Resilience returned to Earth on May 2, 2021.
In April 2023, Glover was named to the Artemis II mission, which was designed to send a crew of four on a flight to orbit the moon. Glover was announced as the pilot for the mission.
Impact
Although Black American astronauts had visited the ISS before Glover, he was the first to live aboard the station. Glover made further history when he was named one of eighteen astronauts to take part in the Artemis Project. The project was officially begun in 2017 with a goal of returning humans to the moon and eventually establishing a lunar base there. The last crewed flight to the moon had taken place in 1972. In November 2022, the uncrewed Artemis I mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spent about three weeks in space, orbited the moon, and returned safely to Earth.
Personal Life
Glover and his wife, Dionna Odom, had four daughters together.
Bibliography
Harvey, Ailsa, and Adam Mann. “NASA’s Artemis Program: Everything You Need to Know.” Space.com, 12 Dec. 2022, www.space.com/artemis-program.html. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.
Neuman, Scott. "A Child's Dream to 'Drive' a Space Shuttle Propels Him toward a Historic NASA Mission." NPR, 27 Feb. 2024, www.npr.org/2024/02/27/1232055752/nasa-moon-orion-artemis-astronaut-victor-glover. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.
Romero, Lynette, and Robin Winston. “Get to Know Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover, the Trailblazing Astronaut Who Will Fly Around the Moon.” NBC Los Angeles, 4 Apr. 2023, www.nbclosangeles.com/local-2/artemis-2-pilot-victor-glover-pomona-california-astronaut-nasa/3128457/. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.
“Victor Glover.” The California State University, www.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/Profiles/Pages/Victor-Glover.aspx. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.
“Victor J. Glover, Jr.” NASA, www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/victor-j-glover/biography. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.