Glover’s mission marks a new milestone — one his father watched from North Texas.
By: Miriam Fauzia
Dallas Morning News
All eyes were on Cape Canaveral last week as four astronauts blasted off on a historic flight around the far side of the moon. For Victor Glover Sr., watching from his home in Prosper, the moment carried a more personal weight: His son is among the crew aboard the Orion spacecraft.
“From the time he got selected for the astronaut corps back in 2013, it’s been very surreal for me,” said Glover, 71. “Watching him and the other astronauts training, [and the] preparation and getting ready for this mission, and then finally seeing it come to fruition on April 1st … is one of the most incredible things I think I’ve ever seen.”
Victor Glover Jr. is the latest in a line of Black astronauts who have expanded the boundaries of who gets to explore space. In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first Black American in space, launching aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Nearly a decade later, in 1992, physician-scientist Dr. Mae Jemison made history by becoming the first Black woman in space, flying aboard the Endeavour.
Glover Jr. is making history as the first Black American astronaut to complete a lunar flyby — after previously becoming the first Black crew member to spend an extended period aboard the International Space Station in 2021.
His father said his son’s journey toward exploring the cosmos started with something simple: a curiosity about the natural world. “He was always really focused, intrigued and intuitive about a lot of things, always wanting to know how things worked,” Glover Sr. said.
His son grew up in California and stayed there after his dad moved to North Texas in 1996. Glover Sr. worked as a police officer before retiring, and his son joined the Navy after earning a degree in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1999.
At the time, Glover Jr. took a series of aptitude exams and scored exceptionally high on the aviator portion. While he had his heart set on becoming a Navy SEAL, Glover Sr. convinced him otherwise, advising his son that flying, instead of joining the SEALs, could open a path to becoming an astronaut.
Glover Jr. would go on to accumulate 3,500 flight hours as a naval aviator and test pilot, including on combat missions in Iraq. He later earned a master’s degree in flight test engineering from the Air University at Edwards Air Force Base in 2007, another in systems engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in 2009, and a third in military operational art and science from the Air University at Maxwell Air Force Base in 2010.
In 2013, Glover Jr. entered NASA’s astronaut corps, part of the same class as fellow Artemis II crew member Christina Koch. His first journey in space began in November 2020, when SpaceX’s Crew-1 was launched to the International Space Station. Glover Jr. spent 168 days as a flight engineer, helping lead research on human health and space biology while carrying out maintenance work and doing four spacewalks before returning to Earth in May 2021.
Glover Sr. said his son is keenly aware of the visibility his role carries and the responsibility that comes with it. Glover Jr. has made a point of encouraging young people to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, using every opportunity to inspire the next generation.
“There are a lot of young people out there that look up to him and put him on a pedestal,” his dad said, “and he does a really, really good job of upholding that responsibility that’s been placed on his shoulder.”
Artemis II will splash down on Friday off San Diego’s coast. From there, a helicopter will transport Glover Jr. and his fellow astronauts to a local medical facility for a full evaluation, his father said. The astronauts will then fly to a debrief at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Houston, where they will reunite with family and loved ones.
Glover Sr. said the family plans to celebrate his son’s 50th birthday after he returns to Earth. Glover Sr.’s 71st birthday fell on Sunday, and his son, he said, gave him a shout-out during the crew’s streamed live feed from space.
Science reporter
Miriam Fauzia is a science reporter for The Dallas Morning News, covering anything from research to innovation and wellness across North Texas. She has appeared on NBC5 and PBS’ To the Contrary and previously reported on misinformation for USA Today and science for The Daily Beast and Inverse. She has freelanced for The New York Times, Ars Technica, Popular Mechanics and many other outlets. She holds graduate degrees in immunology from the University of Oxford and in journalism from Boston University.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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