Artemis II has set out to pave the way for future Moon landings, and its pilot, Victor Glover, will be the first Black astronaut to travel around the moon.
On April 1, Glover, Commander Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center as the most diverse lunar crew in NASA history. The four astronauts are setting out on a monumental 10-day mission to circumnavigate the moon.
Glover, a former U.S. Navy captain and test pilot who has flown 24 combat missions, told the Telegraph U.K.: “It’s about human history. It’s the story of humanity, not Black history, not women’s history, but that it becomes human history.”
Glover was also the first Black man to embark on an International Space Station mission in 2020.
The risky mission will mark the first time astronauts have returned to the vicinity of the moon in more than 50 years. The mission could travel farther from Earth than any human ever has, breaking the Apollo program’s distance record, according to the Associated Press.
Glover, a Southern California native who has completed four spacewalks and has flown more than 40 aircraft during his time in the U.S. Navy before NASA, according to Reuters.
The engineer and former college athlete is a father of four, and his daughters and wife, Dionna, joined him at Kennedy Space Center before the crew took off.
He follows in the footsteps of Guion Bluford, who was the first Black astronaut in space; Frederick D. Gregory, who was the first Black man to pilot and command a Space Shuttle mission; and Ronald McNair, Mae Jemison, and Stephanie Wilson.
In the interview with the Telegraph U.K., he said he’s hoping society can move past these “firsts.” Yet, he lives in “this dichotomy between happiness that a young woman can look at Christina and just physicalize her passion, or her interest, or even if it’s not something she wants to do, she can just be like ‘girl power.’ And that’s awesome.
“And that young Black boys and girls can look at me and go: ‘Hey, he looks like me, and he’s doing what?’ And that’s great, I love that.”