As a kid, Victor Glover was fascinated by the moon. He couldn’t afford a telescope. On clear nights, he’d sit in his backyard and just stare up at the sky. Never did he imagine he would get a chance to go into space someday. 

    But now Victor is an astronaut. He’s part of NASA’s newest mission, Artemis II. 

    Along with three other astronauts, he is heading to the moon this year.*

    The mission is part of the larger Artemis program. The goal of the program is to learn more about the moon. Astronauts hope to figure out whether humans could survive there one day. We talked to Victor about his exciting task.

Can you tell us more about the Artemis program? 

    The Artemis program is like a relay race. Artemis I (November 2022) was the first leg. It was a success. Now the baton is with us. Our job is to make sure our spacecraft, Orion, is safe for humans to fly to and from the moon. After us, future missions will continue the work. For example, Artemis III will attempt to safely land on the moon.  

What’s your job on this mission? 

    I’m the pilot. It’s my job to know the status of the vehicle at all times. If something isn’t working, I try to repair it or call for help. 

What will the journey be like?

    In total, the mission will last 10 days. On our first day, we’ll orbit Earth. If things aren’t going well, we’ll still be able to come back. On the second day, we’ll burn our engines for almost six minutes. This will help us overcome the gravity of Earth and launch us into space. From there, the journey to the moon will take four days. We’ll do sort of a U-turn around the moon, then head back to Earth. 

What do you love most about being an astronaut? 

    I get to connect with people all across the country and around the world. When you leave the planet, you represent humanity. Doing this work has given me a lot of respect for the planet that we live on and the people we live on it with. 

_{*Artemis II is expected to launch between February and May 2026. At press time, a date had not yet been chosen}