Victor Glover is set to become the first Black astronaut to travel to the moon as part of a historic mission by NASA.
Glover, 49, will serve as the pilot of the Artemis II mission. The mission will send four astronauts around the moon and back to Earth. It will be the first-time humans travel that far into space since the Apollo program ended more than 50 years ago.
The crew includes Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency.
During the mission, the spacecraft will fly around the moon before returning to Earth. While passing behind the moon, the crew will lose communication with Earth for about 45 minutes.
Glover described the mission as a major moment for his generation.
“I love that we call great things that humans do, ‘moonshots.’ Our generation gets to have our own moonshots, not just referencing what we did in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” he said.
Glover also said the mission shows why representation matters.
“People need to be able to see themselves in the things that they dream about and not just have to color it in their mind’s eye,” he said.
The mission was first planned for March but is now expected to launch around April 1. The flight will collect important data to help NASA prepare for a future mission that aims to land astronauts on the moon around 2028.
By: Paisley Rae Thompson