On April 1, mankind is scheduled to head to the moon for the first time this century. NASA’s Artemis II mission is the first crewed test flight in the Artemis campaign and the first flight with crew aboard the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
The mission will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a 10-day mission around the moon to confirm the Orion spacecraft’s ability to operate in a deep space environment ahead of next year’s Artemis III mission.
Wiseman is commanding the flight, with Navy Capt. Glover as pilot and Koch and Hanson as mission specialists.
The Artemis IV mission will send astronauts to the surface of the moon, with future missions sending crews to Mars.
The Artemis II mission is one of firsts. Koch will be the first woman to pass over the moon; Glover will be the first African American and Hansen will be the first Canadian.
Glover was born in Pomona, California. He graduated from Ontario High School in 1994 before earning a bachelor’s degree in general engineering and three master’s degrees.
Glover joined the U.S. Navy and served as a test pilot in the F/A-18 Hornet, Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler. He’s accumulated 3,500 flight hours in over 40 aircraft, landed on aircraft carriers over 400 times and served 24 combat missions.
In 2013, Glover was selected as one of eight members of the 21st NASA astronaut class. In 2018, he was assigned to his first spaceflight mission, as Crew-1 pilot, and as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station (ISS), spending 168 days in space.
He and his wife, Dionna, have four children.
In 2023, Glover was assigned as Artemis II pilot. NASA published a video sharing more about Glover’s story, which you can watch below:
The astronaut hasn’t been shy about sharing his Christian faith in recent years.
After spending six months aboard the ISS, he returned to Earth and praised NASA for allowing him to take communion each week.
“I was able to worship in space,” he said, adding, “[NASA] supported me and my family’s desire to continue to worship and to continue our faith walk even while I was off the planet. That was really important to me.”
In a 2023 interview with The Christian Chronicle, Glover shared about how his faith and science and military career are “interwoven.”
“My career is fed by my faith, and you know, anytime I do something that’s pretty risky, I pray — before I fly, every time I fly,” he said. “Definitely when you go sit on top of a rocket ship.”
“In the military, there’s a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. There aren’t any on top of rockets, either.”
Glover spoke about how working at NASA often evokes conversations about creation.
“We talk about our solar system, and I will often refer to the beauty of creation. People hear that, and it’s like a trigger word for certain folks. But that’s in church and at NASA.”
Glover added that he doesn’t believe there’s a conflict between faith and science: “They don’t actually work against each other like some people like to claim that they do.”
Indeed, modern science increasingly supports Christian theism. Scientists have discovered that our universe is fine-tuned to support life – and many creatures within it appear intelligently designed. There is also increasing evidence that our universe began at a finite point in the past – raising the question of what – or Who – caused the universe to come into being.
“I believe in both [faith and science],” Glover shared, “and I don’t find them to be in conflict.”
As the beautiful Psalm 19 poetically declares,
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4, ESV)
Much has changed since Apollo 17, the last crewed mission to the moon, launched on December 7, 1972. Richard Nixon was president. The Dow Jones sat at 1,020 points. And Sammy Davis Jr. had just released “The Candy Man.”
Fifty years later, humankind is headed to the moon once again. Artemis II’s two-hour launch window starts at 6:24 p.m. EDT, with an 80% chance of favorable weather conditions.
Please join us in prayer for all four astronauts’ safety as they begin their 10-day mission around the moon. Godspeed!
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Related articles and resources:
NASA Astronaut Victor Glover: “We Need Jesus”
New Film Explores ‘Intentional Design’ of The Universe
NASA’s Webb Telescope Confirms Christian Belief: The Universe Had a Beginning
Leading Scientist: The Universe Points to the Existence of God
Photo from Getty Images.