It was NASA’s biggest space mission in years.
On April 1, the Artemis II spacecraft took off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on a nine-day mission, which was the first manned lunar flyby in a half-century.
Veteran Astronaut and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo alum Victor Glover was at the helm of the craft.
Glover is now returning to his alma mater as a special full-time consultant.
Glover spoke with KCLU News about his career and his return to the university, where he earned his engineering degree and met his wife.
Flying wasn't always on his radar. He also considered becoming a Navy SEAL.
"My dad told me that with an engineering degree from Cal Poly, and those wings of gold, you might become an astronaut," Glover recalled. "When I joined the Navy in 1998, I signed up for naval aviation training, and went to flight school."
Glover became a Navy fighter pilot who flew combat missions in the second Gulf War. While in the Navy, he also earned three master’s degrees.
"I wanted to go to test pilot school," he said. "I liked the technical side of flying. I had the engineering degree from Cal Poly. While I was at TPS, I got to see Pam Melroy speak. She's the second woman to command the space shuttle. She was telling us about how they fixed the solar arrays on the space station after one ripped while it was being deployed. That reminded me of my Navy experience, of playing team sports in college. I said they might tell me no, but I am going to apply and see what happens."
Glover was accepted into the program and completed his astronaut training in 2015. A few years later, he flew to the International Space Station on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Resilience. He also got the chance to manually fly the craft during the mission.
"I got to fly the vehicle by hand for 70 minutes," said Glover. "It was so fun," said Glover.
Glover spent 168 days on the space station and went on several spacewalks.
"There is nothing like it in the world," he said.
All of this led to this year’s Artemis II mission, which captured the imagination of the world. Glover was the mission’s pilot.
"It was fun, but 'Type A' fun," said Glover. "It's one of the reasons why coming home and hitting the Pacific Ocean, knowing we survived it all, was so relieving."
He admitted the crew had no idea of how much attention the mission was getting around the world until it was over. They found themselves being honored across the world.
Saturday Night Live even poked fun at the crew, with two-time Oscar nominee Colman Domingo playing Glover.
After more than three decades in the Navy, Glover retired this year, but will still do some work with NASA. He’s taken a position with Cal Poly, where he will serve as a consultant and help to develop the university’s research programs.
"My wife and I met 30 years ago this month at Cal Poly," said Glover. "To be back on campus now is special. I am really excited to be a part of this amazing team."
The Glovers are about as Cal Poly as you can get. He was on the wrestling and football teams. All four of the couple’s daughters either graduated from or are attending the university.
Glover said he feels like he’s returning home and looks forward to helping develop university programs in areas like aerospace and working with Cal Poly leaders and students.
