Space Traveler

Every few years, NASA recruits a new group of astronaut candidates for future space missions. Thousands apply—but only a handful are accepted. In 2013, Victor Glover was one of the lucky few. In 2020, he blasted into space to spend six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Now he’s training as a pilot for the Artemis II mission, which will send a crewed spacecraft to orbit the moon early this year (see “Mission to the Moon,” p. 2). He’d be the first Black astronaut to go beyond Earth’s orbit.

Being an astronaut requires leadership, communication skills, and teamwork. Recently, Glover spoke with Science World about what it takes to live and work in space!

I wasn’t the type of kid who thought, “I want to be an astronaut when I grow up!” But I loved math and engineering. I also had a fascination with the moon. On clear nights, I would sit out in the backyard. I never owned a telescope—I couldn’t afford one. Throughout the month, I would stare at the moon and watch it change through all the different phases. It was also amazing to watch space launches on TV as a kid. Seeing astronauts leave the planet helped me understand what it meant to be a hero.

What led you to apply to become an astronaut?

I studied engineering in college and graduate school. I was also a test pilot in the military for several years. During that time, I saw former NASA astronaut Pamela Melroy speak at a conference. I realized my qualifications were similar to hers. I said, “All right, I’m going to take a shot!” I applied to NASA’s astronaut program in 2009 and wasn’t accepted. So I tried again in 2013 and was selected! It’s important to stand out from other applicants. You need to meet the basic requirements, but NASA is also looking for people with a commitment to service and teamwork.

In space, you experience weightlessness because you feel less pull from Earth’s gravity. To re-create that weightless environment on Earth, we fly in a plane that rises and falls in an arc called a parabola. Each time the plane drops, you float—but only for a few seconds.

Another type of weightlessness training involves hanging suspended from harnesses attached to tall cranes. This gives us practice working on something that we’re floating above. Right now, we’re also learning about systems aboard the Orion spacecraft—the capsule we’ll be traveling in for the Artemis II mission. We practice flying it using a mock-up of the craft with working controls. This simulator models what it will be like when we launch, land, and more.

It’s my job to monitor the status of the Orion spacecraft at all times—most critically during launch, landing, and burns. A burn is when you fire a spacecraft’s engines to change the vehicle’s velocity, or speed, and trajectory, or flight path. I need to make sure the engines are burning at the right time, in the right way, and for the right duration. If anything goes wrong, I’m trained to fix it by myself or with help from NASA’s ground crew back home.

What do you love most about being an astronaut?

What I love about it actually doesn’t have anything to do with space. When you leave the planet, you represent all of humanity. To be able to do that, we interact with people from all over the world. We visit classrooms and talk to the public. That opens the door for human connection. All of these things come together to give you a profound respect for this planet we live on and the people we live on it with.