A SoCal native is set to pilot NASA's lunar mission - and become the first Black person to reach the moon

"That cannot be right,” Livingston Holder recalled thinking when he first heard that fact. “How can we go two decades without flying a Black astronaut on a full mission to the station? How can that possibly be?"

"For Glover, the achievement - and title of 'first' - stirred complicated feelings. He acknowledged the deep responsibility he felt toward the next generations of Black astronauts he hoped to inspire."

"Glover wasn't really supposed to be the first, but instead the first Black person to do so, which he reframed into NASA's greater mission."

NASA's Artemis II mission will launch Wednesday, sending humans around the moon for the first time in 50 years. Victor Glover, a former Navy test pilot and Ontario High School wrestler, will be the first Black astronaut to achieve this milestone. Glover previously made history as the first Black person to serve on an International Space Station expedition in 2020. He feels a deep responsibility to inspire future generations of Black astronauts while acknowledging the contributions of those who came before him.

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