An astronaut from Southern California is making history as the first Black person to land on the moon.
Victor Glover is the pilot of NASA’s Artemis II mission, which launched earlier today, and is a continuation of NASA’s Artemis I mission in 2022. Glover previously served as a pilot and flight engineer aboard the International Space Station and was the first Black astronaut to serve as a long-term crewmember.
While over 350 astronauts have traveled to space with NASA, Glover currently stands as one of 15 African Americans who have participated in NASA missions, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
NASA’s first astronauts of color were in the class of 1978, when updated employment requirements gave non-white and female astronauts the opportunity to apply for service, according to the NASA Fact book.
Since then, NASA has taken steps to improve its equity and inclusion initiatives at the personal, educational, and institutional levels.
“I think it’s valuable to show that anybody can be an astronaut if they’ve got the skills, and the determination,” said Dr. Scott Hubbard, who served as the Director at NASA’s Ames Research Center. “There are probably 20,000 people that applied at the last offering for an opening to be an astronaut and out of that, a very small number get selected.”
Under Trump’s recent crusade against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, these initiatives were under threat.
“I’m very glad that since these four astronauts were selected during the Biden administration, that this administration did not choose to change the selection,” Hubbard said.
Glover is joined by three other astronauts: the mission Commander Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Mission Specialists Jeremy Hansen.
“I think having a diverse crew is very important, especially for younger kids watching this,” said May Bailey, a USC second-year studying civil engineering. “I feel like astronauts are something a lot of kids say they want to be when they grow up, and seeing diversity – seeing yourself – be able to do that, is a good thing.”
“It’s a remarkable moment,” said Andrew Lu, a law student. “It’s definitely a historical moment. I think there are a lot of firsts still left in space exploration, but I’m just really excited for how we get to this next frontier.”
Morgan Charles, a junior majoring in economics, echoed this idea of “firsts.”
“I think it’s kind of sad that it’s just now that the first black man reaches the moon,” said Charles. “I think it definitely took too long, but I’m glad that it’s happening now.”
The Artemis II mission is expected to last 10 days, with those on Earth awaiting the crew’s safe return home.
Although six other missions have previously put astronauts on the moon, Hubbard said that does not limit Glover’s contribution.
“Space has always been seen as a badge of accomplishment,” Hubbard said.