Cal Poly grad back on Earth after NASA SpaceX mission on International Space Station
Cal Poly alumnus Victor Glover and four other astronauts splashed down safely in the Gulf of Mexico late Saturday night after spending nearly six months in space aboard the International Space Station.
Glover, a NASA astronaut, was accompanied by NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins and Shannon Walker, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi.
They returned to Earth on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, a commercially-made capsule. After splashing down at about 11:56 p.m. PDT off the coast of Panama City, Florida, the crew was transported back to land and then flew to Houston.
“Welcome home Victor, Michael, Shannon and Soichi, and congratulations to the teams at NASA and SpaceX who worked so hard to ensure their safe and successful splashdown,” said Sen. Bill Nelson, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as NASA administrator on April 29. “We’ve accomplished another incredible spaceflight for America and our commercial and international partners.
“Safe, reliable transportation to the International Space Station is exactly the vision that NASA had when the agency embarked on the commercial crew program.”
Glover and the three other astronauts left Earth on Nov. 15 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Nearly 27 hours after liftoff, the spacecraft docked to the ISS.
In total, the astronauts traveled 71,242,199 statute miles during their 168 days in orbit, with 167 days aboard the space station, according to NASA. They completed 2,688 orbits around Earth.
The mission was a historic one for Glover, who graduated from Cal Poly in 1999 with a general engineering degree.
Glover, 45, was the first Black crew member aboard the ISS for an extended stay. Those who preceded him stayed only briefly aboard the space station.
While aboard the ISS, Glover had a virtual conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris in February. “You are reminding us of what is possible when we dream big and when we think big,” she told the astronaut. “So thank you.”
Glover also spoke with members of Cal Poly’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers in January.
He told students to continue working hard, even in the face of challenges.
“No matter what you want to do in life, whether it’s to be a good mom or a dad, or to be a great engineer, or a great jazz trumpet player or basketball player ... If you’re gritty, resilient, tenacious, if you don’t stop in the face of challenges, that’s No. 1,” Glover said during the virtual chat with the Cal Poly students. “No. 2, be a lifelong learner inside the classroom and outside the classroom. And No. 3, be a good teammate.”
Glover was recently selected as one of 18 NASA astronauts to be part of the space agency’s Artemis program, which aims to send humans back to the moon before 2030. He was selected out of NASA’s 47 active astronauts.
SpaceX’s next astronaut launch for NASA will be in October.
This story was originally published May 2, 2021 at 10:46 AM.
