CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. — Victor Glover and the Artemis II crew arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 27, 2026, to prepare for the agency's first crewed mission to circle the moon since 1972. Glover will pilot the mission.

Artemis II will conduct a lunar flyby without landing on the moon or entering lunar orbit. Glover is set to become the first Black person to travel to the moon if the mission flies as planned.

Glover's preparation for the mission has included multiple milestones at Kennedy Space Center. On December 20, 2025, Glover underwent spacesuit checks in the crew quarters suit-up room in the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building as part of the Artemis II Countdown Demonstration Test. On January 17, 2026, backup and prime crewmembers of Artemis II, including Glover, posed for a photograph with NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at the facility.

During training for his Artemis II mission, Glover listened weekly to the poem "Whitey on the Moon" by Gil Scott-Heron on his morning commute. Glover became the first Black person to serve as a long-term crew member on the International Space Station in 2020.

"How can we go two decades without flying a Black astronaut on a full mission to the station? How can that possibly be?" said Livingston Holder, former Air Force manned spaceflight engineer and space shuttle payload specialist.

Glover's path to becoming an astronaut began with his enlistment in the U.S. Navy in 1998. During his Navy service, he accumulated 3,500 flight hours, flew more than 40 different aircraft, and served in 24 combat missions. He earned multiple master's degrees while in the Navy.

Glover attended test pilot school at Edwards Air Force Base and later served with the Navy's Dust Devil test pilot squadron in China Lake, California. A Navy commanding officer gave Glover the call sign "Ike."

Born in 1976 in Pomona, California, Glover graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo with a bachelor's degree in engineering. He attended Ontario High School, where he participated in football and wrestling and gained recognition for his wrestling prowess during his time at Ontario High School and Cal Poly. One of his parents worked as a police officer, and the other worked as a bookkeeper.

Glover's grandfather enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War but was told he could not fly because of his race. "He was marching to his own drummer," said Gregg Givens, an English teacher and football coach.