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NASA astronaut Victor Glover shared his first video from space as he and three other astronauts flew above Earth as they traveled to the International Space Station.
Glover is part of the Crew-1 mission that was launched aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, nicknamed “Dragon Resilience”, on November 15.
This is Glover’s first trip to space and in the video he shares the excitement: “the video doesn’t do it justice,” Glover says wide-eyed and smiling as he gazed at Earth.
The short clip, shared on Twitter, lasts only a few seconds but shows the curve of our planet, the beautiful blue sky and the clouds scattered in the atmosphere.
“Looking at Earth through the Dragon Resilience window,” Glover wrote in the tweet. “The scale of the details and the sensory inputs made this perspective breathtaking!”
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NASA astronaut Victor Glover shared his first video from space as he and three other astronauts flew above Earth as they traveled to the International Space Station
Glover fell in love with space when he was in junior high and decades later he is living that dream 250 miles above the earth’s surface.
Crew mission 1 docked with the ISS around 11 p.m. ET on Monday November 16 and emerged from the capsule approximately two hours after completing the necessary checks to ensure the capsule and the ISS had an airtight seal – and were greeted by the ship’s other residence.
Glover embarked on the 240-mile journey with his commander Michael Hopkins and fellow astronauts Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese space agency JAXA.
In addition to achieving his personal dream, Glover has also reached a milestone in history for being the first black person to live in the orbiting laboratory for an extended stay – he will call the huge ship home for the next six months.
The short clip, shared on Twitter, lasts only a few seconds but shows the curve of our planet, the beautiful blue sky and the clouds scattered in the atmosphere
NASA sent more than 300 American astronauts into space, but only 14 of them were black, the New York Times reports.
Glover joined the ranks of NASA in 2013 and is a commander in the United States Navy, but is now the 14th black astronaut to venture into space.
“Flying has been such an important part of my professional life and I love doing it,” Glover said in a NASA video.
“6,400 feet, it’s the highest altitude I’ve ever seen from the ground and so to get to a later point, it’s going to be a special moment.”
Glover appears to be having that little special moment, as it is now 1,161,600 feet above the Earth’s surface.
Glover embarked on the 240-mile journey with his commander Michael Hopkins and fellow astronauts Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese space agency JAXA
Glover joined the ranks of NASA in 2013 and is a commander in the United States Navy, but is now the 14th black astronaut to venture into space
“I am a novice astronaut, I am the pilot and I will learn the basics from a very experienced crew,” Glover said.
Guin S. Bluford Jr. was the first black astronaut in space and traveled aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983.
Mae Jamison became the first black woman to embark on the voyage in 1992, nor were they aboard the ISS, as it wasn’t built until 1998.
NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps will become the first black woman to board the ISS in 2021.
Epps was supposed to be the first black astronaut to complete a long stay on a mission in 2018, but was unexpectedly withdrawn from her June flight, reports the Washington Post.
NASA announced that Serena Auñón-Chancellor, who was previously assigned to Expedition 58/59, has been reassigned to the crew of Expedition 56/57, taking over from Epps.
The US space agency did not provide an explanation as to why there was a crew change, but Epp’s brother pointed out the racism.
Guin S. Bluford Jr. (left) was the first black astronaut in space, who traveled aboard the Challenger in 1983. NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps (right) will become the first black woman to board of the ISS in 2021
“My sister, Dr. Jeannette Epps, fought against oppressive racism and misogynist at NASA and now they are holding her back and allowing a Caucasian astronaut to take her place!” Henry Epps wrote in a Facebook post in 2018.
Although Glover’s adventure is a milestone in history, he said it is “bittersweet”.
Speaking to The Christian Chronicle, he said, “I’ve had some great colleagues before me who could have really done it, and there are some great people who will follow me.”
“I wish it had already been done, but I try not to draw too much attention to it.”
Glover is married to Dionna Odom and they have four children.
He was born in Pomona, California, and graduated with a BA in general engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1999.
Those closest to Glover refer to him as “Ike”, as a nod to a call sign a former commander gave him that stands for “I know everything”.
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