News — astronaut
Black Development: Victor Glover To Become The First Black NASA Astronaut To Live On International Space Station
This past weekend, NASA celebrated a historic moment with the launch of the SpaceX Crew-1 mission and Victor J. Glover became the first Black astronaut to live on the international space station for an extended stay. The flight left on Sunday, Nov. 15 from the Kennedy Space Center based in Florida.
“It is something to be celebrated once we accomplish it, and, you know, I am honored to be in this position and to be a part of this great and experienced crew,” Glover said during a news conference on the new mission last week, according to Space.com. “And I look forward to getting up there and doing my best to make sure that, you know, we are worthy of all the work that’s been put into setting us up for this mission.”
The team for the first operational flight will also include NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Soichi Noguchi in addition to the California native. The Navy veteran expressed excitement about the new milestone and embarking on the missions with his team.
“Listening to Shannon and Soichi and Mike talk about their Soyuz experience, their space shuttle experience, and their lives on the International Space Station, and how they managed their families and communication and keeping their things together, all of that has been so valuable to me and to top it all off,” Glover said in an interview with Spectrum News. “We have a great time.”
Glover also took to his own Twitter to celebrate the news of the mission with followers. “Crew-1 is complete with Dragon Rider training,” he wrote. “We’ve got our license to fly! Thank you to all that made this possible. We hope to make you proud!” NASA also shared a short video on Glover’s history with the organization and his work with the Crew-1 mission.
NASA posted a clip of the mission launch on Sunday on their Instagram page with the caption “At 7:27 p.m. EST the @SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft launched from @NASAKennedy en route to the @ISS. Its precious cargo? @NASAastronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, @JAXAjp astronaut Soichi Noguchi, and more than 440 pounds of science experiments and supplies. This is the first official flight of the Commercial Crew Program, helping pave the way for the future of space exploration.”
Black Development: First Black Astronaut To Do An Extended Stay On The Space Station
NASA and SpaceX are sending an African-American astronaut on an extended trip for the first time into space. Victor J. Glover, who joined the astronaut corps in 2013 when he was still serving as a legislative fellow in the United States Senate, will now be the first Black crew member to spend an extended amount of time at the space station.
According to NY Times, Glover, 44, a Navy Commander, is making this unprecedented voyage with three other crew members; two Americans, crew commander Mike Hopkins, 51, Shannon Walker, 55 and one Japanese, Soichi Noguchi, 55.
The crew launched on Sunday on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule named Resilience and will spend about six months aboard the station. The four will stay in orbit until spring, till another SpaceX Dragon capsule brings their replacements.
The first African American to travel into space was Guion Bluford in 1983 and since then there have been many African Americans in space, some of whom helped build the International Space Station but none of them have been on prolonged missions or served as expedition members like Glover.
Out of 300 astronauts, NASA has only sent 14 Black Americans and Glover’s achievement is notable for NASA.
Black people in America have had waves of protests following the death of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor amid talks of racial injustice and police brutality. Glover is delighted to make history on the Dragon capsule, but he is not oblivious to the recent happenings including the pandemic.
“It is something to be celebrated once we accomplish it, and I am honored to be in this position and to be a part of this great and experienced crew,” he said.
“And I look forward to getting up there and doing my best to make sure, you know, we are worthy of all the work that’s been put into setting us up for this mission. You know, unlike the election — that is in the past or receding in the past — this mission is still ahead of me. So, let’s get there, and I’ll talk to you after I get on board.”
Glover is a family man with four children married to Dionna Odom. The Pomona, California native got his bachelor’s in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1999. Between 2007 and 2010, Glover earned three master’s degrees in flight test engineering, systems engineering and military operational art and science.
The former Navy Commander accumulated 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 aircraft, over 400 carrier arrested landings and 24 combat missions. His colleagues nicknamed him “Ike”, which means “I Know Everything.” His former commanding officer gave him that name for his stellar work ethics.
With this NASA mission, he told The Christian Chronicle, a publication of the Churches of Christ, that he wished Blacks had achieved this feat long ago and hopes he would not be the last.
“I’ve had some amazing colleagues before me that really could have done it, and there are some amazing folks that will go behind me,” Glover said. “I wish it would have already been done, but I try not to draw too much attention to it.”
First Black Woman Astronaut To Join International Space Station Crew Next Year
In 2009, Jeanette J. Epps became the first Black woman astronaut for NASA. Next year, she’ll make history again as the first Black woman to live and work on the International Space Station for an extended period of time.
NASA announced this week that Epps has been assigned to the Boeing Starliner-1 mission, her first official spaceflight since joining the agency. Prior to joining NASA, she worked as a technical intelligence officer for the CIA.
“Epps will join NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Josh Cassada for a six-month expedition planned for a launch in 2021 to the orbiting space laboratory,” the organization wrote in an August 25 statement. “The flight will follow NASA certification after a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 and Crew Flight Test with astronauts.
“NASA assigned Williams and Cassada to the Starliner-1 mission in August 2018. The spaceflight will be the first for Cassada and third for Williams, who spent long-duration stays aboard the space station on Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33.”
Epps took to social media to share the news:
“I’m super excited to join Suni Williams and Josh Cassada on the first operational Boeing crewed mission to the International Space Station,” she said in a video shared on Twitter, where she has more than 40,000 followers. “I’ve flown in helicopters with Suni flying and I’ve flown in the backseat of a T-38 with Josh flying, and they are both wonderful people to work with, so I’m looking forward to the mission.”
Back in 1983, Sally Ride became the first woman to fly into space. That same year, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became the first African American to travel into space.