Victor Glover: 1st African-American NASA astronaut and SpaceX Crew Dragon pilot
45-year-old Glover is the pilot and lone space rookie among his three SpaceX Crew-1 members.
On Crew-1, Glover became the 15th Black astronaut in space and the first Black astronaut to stay for an extended period on the ISS, after spending nearly six months in orbit as part of Expedition 64.
He’s from the Los Angeles area and is the first African-American astronaut to move into the space station for a long stay.
He wrestled and played football at California Polytechnic State University.
When picked as a NASA astronaut in 2013, he was working as a legislative fellow for the late Sen. John McCain.
Glover and his three cremates began their journey to the International Space Station on November 16.
It’s been a busy few months for Glover, conducting experiments onboard, and performing several spacewalks to install support frames for new, high-efficiency solar panels, and rearrange space station plumbing.
Glover shared best wishes on Thanksgiving, holiday greetings, and an inauguration message with his crew mates on January 6.
On February 24, Glover had a virtual chat with US Vice President Kamala Harris in celebration of Black History Month.
Glover and his three crew mates are planning to return to Earth this weekend after they began their journey November 16.
They’re expected to splashdown at 11:36 a.m. EDT Saturday, May 1, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida.
The trip home for the four astronauts was delayed from Wednesday because of high winds forecast for the area.
But this likely won’t be Glover’s last spaceflight, in December 2020, he was announced as one of 18 astronauts who will train for NASA’s Artemis moon-landing program.
