Sunday, June 18, 2023

Naval aviator to pilot Artemis II

Artemis II is the second scheduled mission of NASA's Artemis program and the first scheduled crewed mission of NASA's Orion spacecraft, currently planned to be launched by the Space Launch System (SLS) in November 2024. 

The crewed Orion spacecraft will perform a lunar flyby and return to Earth. Artemis II is planned to be the first crewed spacecraft to travel to the Moon, and beyond low Earth orbit, since Apollo 17 in 1972 - over 50 years ago. 

Victor J. Glover, Jr., who has some minor ties to the Gulf Coast region, will be the pilot of Artemis II - an approximately 10-day venture around the Moon and back. 

It will be the first crewed flight of the Artemis program to make human deep-space capabilities to pave the way for future lunar missions. 

Glover, a naval aviator, was selected as an astronaut in 2013. Most recently, he served as pilot and second-in-command on the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Resilience, which landed May 2, 2021. 

He also served as Flight Engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 64.  

The other three astronauts making up the crew of Artemis II are Commander Reid Wiseman, Mission Specialist Christina Hammock Koch and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen of Canada. (Wikipedia 06/16/23) Artemis 2 - Wikipedia 

Regional Note: Glover earned a Master of Military Operational Art and Science degree from Air University at Montgomery, Ala., in 2010. 

Following his naval commissioning, Glover began preflight training in Pensacola, Fla., and completed his advanced flight training in Kingsville, Texas, earning his wings of gold on December 14, 2001. 

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