Indianapolis, IN — Before he speaks to young people, NASA astronaut Victor Glover likes to keep his introductions short and simple. No long list of accolades. No résumé rundown.
“I do not like to be introduced by having my résumé read because to me, that builds a wall between me and those kids,” Glover told the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder (MSR). “So, I try to connect as a person; I’m a human being. I make mistakes.”
Glover visited the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis during WNBA All-Star Weekend earlier this month, where he hosted two meet-and-greets as part of “Shoot for the Stars,” a STEM-focused program presented by the WNBA.
He is one of four astronauts selected to fly on NASA’s historic Artemis II mission, scheduled for 2025, the first crewed trip around the Moon in over 50 years. Glover will serve as the pilot, making him the first Black astronaut assigned to a lunar mission and one of only 18 Black Americans to travel to space since 1983.
While Artemis II will be groundbreaking, it’s not Glover’s first time beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. In 2020–21, he served as pilot on SpaceX’s first operational mission to the International Space Station (ISS), spending 168 days in space, conducting four spacewalks and helping complete a range of scientific experiments and maintenance work. A former Navy test pilot, he’s logged over 3,500 flight hours across 40 different aircraft.
But long before the astronaut training and high-altitude missions, Glover was a college football player and wrestler who once dreamed of making the NFL or the Olympic team.
“I wanted to play in the NFL. I wanted to wrestle in the Olympics,” he shared. “But I wasn’t that good.”
Even so, Glover credits athletics for preparing him for life in space. “I’ve had great teammates,” he said. “And I try to make that very clear when I speak publicly.”
He also emphasizes three traits that he believes matter, on Earth or in orbit:
“Be resilient. That means growing through challenges. It’s one thing to survive; it’s another thing to thrive, and sometimes the difference is mindset,” he explained.
“Be a lifelong learner. And be a good teammate. That’s something we all can choose. These three things help you not just succeed but define what success looks like for yourself.”
Even today, Glover still identifies as an athlete.
“I’m about to be 50, so I can’t do what I used to,” he said with a smile, “but I still consider myself an athlete.”
When asked whether he’s ever afraid to go into space, Glover was candid.
“What we do is incredibly dangerous, incredibly risky. But we’re also incredibly supported, prepared, and trained,” he said. “That training helps bring the emotion down. The challenges are real, but we focus through them.”
Representation remains a top priority for Glover, who wants to see more Black people, especially women, working in STEM and space exploration.
“We’re not quite there yet,” he admitted. “We need more women. We have better racial representation now, but the science and tech workforce in this country still doesn’t look like the country.”
Though Glover won’t be part of the NASA exhibition coming to the Minnesota State Fair from Aug. 21–24, he encourages everyone to stop by and engage with the agency’s hands-on exhibits about the future of space exploration.
“NASA is an administration of our government,” Glover said. “We work for the people, and our mission is to explore the unknown in aerospace.”
Charles Hallman is a longtime sports columnist of the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder