As Victor Glover makes history with Artemis II moon mission, a look back at other notable Black astronauts

With a successful launch, Glover becomes the first Black astronaut to come closest to the moon, and other pioneers are cheering him on.

Pilot Victor Glover is making history on Wednesday as NASA plots its first moon mission in more than 50 years with Artemis II. Glover, who was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013, has previously spent time on the International Space Station, but his being the first Black astronaut to be near the moon is historic.

He follows in the footsteps of Guion Bluford, who was the first Black astronaut in space. Or Frederick D. Gregory, who was the first Black man to pilot and command a Space Shuttle mission. And Ronald McNair, Mae Jemison and Stephanie Wilson.

While Glover says his feat is more about “human history” and not just “Black history,” he still beams about the fact that young Black men and women can look at him and see hope.

Other individuals making history on the Artemis II mission include Christina Koch, who will be the first woman to venture this close to the moon and back.

“I live in this dichotomy between happiness that a young woman can look at Christina and just physicalize her passion, or her interest, or even if it’s not something she wants to do, she can just be like ‘girl power’. And that’s awesome,” he told The Telegraph. “And that young black boys and girls can look at me and go: ‘Hey, he looks like me, and he’s doing what?’ And that’s great, I love that.”

He added, “But I also hope we are pushing in the other direction, and that one day we don’t have to talk about these firsts, that one day this is just human history. It’s about human history. It’s the story of humanity, not black history, not women’s history, but that it becomes human history.”

The Original Three

Nearly 50 years ago, NASA announced the Astronaut Class of 1978. Of the thirty-five men and women selected for the program, three were Bluford, McNair and Gregory. Part of NASA’s first group of new astronauts in nearly a decade, the trio of Bluford, McNair and Gregory would take part in nine space missions between 1983 and 1992. Bluford was the first of the trio to go into space, followed by McNair and then Gregory. McNair’s second mission would prove tragic, as he was on board the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986.

But before those three processed through the NASA program, Ed Dwight was the pioneer of all pioneers.

Dwight was the first Black astronaut candidate at the behest of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Although he completed training at the Aerospace Research Pilot School two years later, he ultimately ultimately not selected for the Astronaut Corps and resigned from the Air Force due to racial politics in 1966.

Denied his opportunity, Dwight would have to wait five decades before he could finally go up in space. In 2024, he became the oldest person to fly in space after flying on Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-25. One of the people on that ride up? Glover.

“I have a personal attachment and affiliation with Victor, because I met him when he was 15 years old, and we had a program where we were trying to encourage young Black candidates to go to pilot training and to get into flying,” Dwight told AFP this week. “And never in a thousand years did I ever think that Victor would take it to heart and take it to the Moon, which is what he’s done.”

“I’m really living my old 92 years through Victor — I’m really proud.”