Cal Poly alum Victor Glover, along with three other astronauts aboard the Artemis II, made history on April 6 for being the furthest distance from Earth, according to NASA live coverage.
At 10:56 a.m. Pacific time, the crew broke the record, surpassing the record Apollo 13 set of 248,655 miles from Earth. They set the new record when they reached their maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth.
The Artemis II mission is the first crewed Artemis mission aboard the Orion spacecraft, according to the NASA website. The goal of the mission is to test the Orion spacecraft with people onboard and to capture images of the lunar far side. The mission is part of the Artemis program, which aims to explore the moon and progress towards an eventual goal of a crewed mission to Mars.
“I think it’s really cool that my dad gets to serve the planet in this way,” architecture junior Maya Glover, who is Victor Glover’s daughter, told Mustang News in an interview last fall.
She said it’s definitely not as surreal to her as it is to other people, because he has gone to space before, and he has been in the Navy her whole life and does super dangerous missions.
“I’m nervous about it like in the normal ways that someone would be when your dad gets strapped to a rocket and you’re hoping everything goes well,” she said.
“I’m hoping that it’s something that will unify everybody for a small period of time, of being like ‘Wow we’re launching people to the moon again after so many years,’” Maya said.
Victor Glover previously went to space from Nov. 16, 2020 to May 2, 2021 as a part of Crew-1. The crew went to the International Space Station, and Victor completed four spacewalks, and maintenance, scientific and outreach activities, according to the NASA website. Maya said when her dad went to space for the first time, it was definitely surreal.
“The first time it would be funny when people were like ‘Oh is your dad out of town’ and I was like ‘No he’s not on the planet right now, he’s just up, just straight up,” she said.
Graduate student in mechanical engineering Jack Zilligen said this puts in perspective how amazing of a guy Victor Glover is.
“It’s obviously super amazing, and it’s really inspirational for Cal Poly students to look at a guy like Victor Glover and to see that he came from Cal Poly roots and he’s now doing this amazing feat,.” Zilligen said.
Food science freshman Alice Cook said it is pretty cool and exciting that Victor Glover is an alumni of Cal Poly. She said she hopes it could potentially create more opportunities for current Cal Poly students.
Environmental engineering freshman Luca Guthrie said that breaking the record is a pretty big scientific achievement.
“It says something about our school that people from here do great things,” Guthrie said.
Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong sent out an email on Monday, April 6 expressing his pride in Glover’s role in the Artemis II mission.
“Victor and his fellow astronauts are a testament to what’s possible when curiosity meets opportunity, when hands-on learning fuels ambition, and when determination is paired with service,” the email read. “From our classrooms and labs to the farthest reaches of human endeavor, his path reminds us that what starts here can truly change — and reach — the world.”
The crew will return to Earth on Friday, April 10 off the coast of San Diego, splashing down at approximately 5:07 p.m. Pacific time, according to the NASA website.
