Cal Poly alum named pilot of NASA mission that will fly around the moon

A Cal Poly Mustang has been picked as the pilot of a NASA mission that will fly around the moon next year.

When the Artemis II mission takes flight sometime in November 2024, Cal Poly alumnus Victor Glover will be at the controls, according to a NASA news release announcing the final crew of the mission.

The joint NASA and Canadian Space Agency crew was announced Monday morning at an event at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“For the first time in more than 50 years, these individuals — the Artemis II crew — will be the first humans to fly to the vicinity of the Moon,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “Among the crew are the first woman, first person of color, and first Canadian on a lunar mission — and all four astronauts will represent the best of humanity as they explore for the benefit of all.”

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the Artemis II crew represents all the many people who are “working tirelessly to bring us to the stars.”

“This is their crew, this is our crew, this is humanity’s crew,” Nelson said at the event. “NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, each has their own story, but, together, they represent our creed: E pluribus unum — out of many, one. Together, we are ushering in a new era of exploration for a new generation of star sailors and dreamers — the Artemis Generation.”

Glover was announced as one of the 18 finalist candidates for the mission in December 2020, learning of his selection while orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station.

“The lessons learned on my current mission aboard the @Space_Station will pave the way for future exploration on the lunar surface, a dream within a dream,” Glover wrote on Twitter after the announcement. “It’s an honor to be part of the @NASAArtemis team!”

This time, Glover didn’t have to spell it out, instead posting a photo to Twitter shortly after the Monday announcement of his and his crewmates’ uniforms.

NASA astronaut celebrates this Cal Poly legacy

This mission is Glover’s second spaceflight, the release said. He previously served as a pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1, which landed May 2, 2021, after a 168-day expedition in space.

Glover, 46, served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station for Expedition 64, the release said, where he participated in scientific investigations and technology demonstrations and completed four spacewalks.

Before he landed from that flight, he also learned his eldest daughter was going to attend Cal Poly, Cal Poly said in a news release.

“I literally was doing flips around the space station just because I could,” Glover recalled during a two-day campus visit last April. “That felt really good, because my wife and I met here, and we have worked hard to continue to support this place.”

During his visit to San Luis Obispo, Glover and his wife, Dionna Odom Glover (a child development major at Cal Poly), talked with students and others, and he returned some special items that flew with him on the International Space Station: two Cal Poly banners and green-and-gold socks.

He also discussed the Artemis program, which plans to launch a series of uncrewed and crewed missions to the moon to establish a lunar base by 2030. He said Cal Poly and Learn by Doing helped prepare him for whatever comes next.

“This is truly my original launch pad,” Glover said. “Cal Poly is the reason that I’ve been able to do some amazing things.

“Even before NASA, I’ve lived what I would call an enchanted journey. And Dionna and I and the girls have been on this really amazing adventure together, and that really started here.”

More about the Artemis II flight around the moon

The Artemis II flight will last 10 days, testing the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft’s life-support systems, the release said.

“I could not be prouder that these brave four will kickstart our journeys to the moon and beyond,” NASA Director of Flight Operations Norm Knight said in the release. “They represent exactly what an astronaut corps should be: a mix of highly capable and accomplished individuals with the skills and determination to take on any trial as a team. The Artemis II mission will be challenging, and we’ll test our limits as we prepare to put future astronauts on the moon. With Reid, Victor, Christina and Jeremy at the controls, I have no doubt we’re ready to face every challenge that comes our way.”

This test will build upon the successful uncrewed Artemis I mission completed in December 2022, the release said, with the goal of using the moon as a stepping stone to Mars exploration.

Humans last set foot on the moon more than 50 years ago, the release said, as Apollo 17 — the final manned flight to the moon — returned to Earth Dec. 19, 1972.

For more information about the Artemis II crew, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis-ii