NASA ASTRONAUT VICTOR GLOVER “BEING IN SPACE IS LIKE LIVING A DREAM”

Serving as a pilot on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, the astronaut reveals the most scary thought that’s entered his head, his thoughts on spacewalking and returning to Earth during a pandemic

-  Lloyd Coombes

BIO

Victor Glover Glover is a NASA astronaut and naval aviator. In his first spaceflight mission, he served as a pilot on the Crew-1 flight of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, which launched on 15 November 2020. Crew-1 was the first commercial crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the second flight overall after SpaceX’s Demo-2 test mission, which launched in May 2020.

Glover became the 15th Black astronaut in space and the first Black astronaut to stay for an extended period on the ISS. Glover launched to the ISS at a time when many were forced to isolate due to the pandemic and returned to a world where vaccines had begun rolling out.

Is there a particular psychological profile that suits an astronaut?

There is, absolutely. We have psychiatrists and psychologists that are part of our selection process and are part of the maintenance of our health and wellbeing for astronauts; they’re here annually. And while you’re in space that’s a very important part of your mission support team.

But what does it take to be the man that was spacewalking earlier this year?

There are just things about living in what we call the ICE environment – isolated, confined, extreme environments. People who winter over in Antarctica, people who live on submarines or deploy in our military out into the middle of nowhere, living in tents for months on end, fighting in combat. Those things require a certain type of mentality – you’ve got to have mettle.