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NASA astronaut and Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover inside of the Orion spacecraft mockup during Post Insertion and Deorbit Preparation training at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Houston, Texas. The crew practiced getting the Orion spacecraft configured once in orbit, how to make it habitable, and suited up in their entry pressure suits to prepare for their return from the Moon.
NASA astronaut Victor Glover views the core stage of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will help power Artemis II at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans July 15. Glover will pilot Artemis II, the first crewed mission of NASA’s Artemis campaign. Crews moved the 212-foot-tall core stage with its four RS-25 engines to Building 110 at NASA Michoud prior to rolling it out to NASA’s Pegasus barge July 16 for delivery to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The core stage has two giant propellant tanks that collectively hold more than 733,000 gallons of super cold liquid propellant to feed the stage’s four RS-25 engines. Together, the engines produce more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help send astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft to venture around the Moon for Artemis II. NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.

You Are: The Pilot

The pilot is responsible for executing all spacecraft maneuvers, though other roles can step in if needed. It is important for the pilot to follow protocol exactly and establish best practices, with consistency being key. During ascent and entry, the pilot and the commander are prime to handle tasks related to manually piloting the spacecraft and interacting with the displays. The pilot is second in command and must be ready to take charge if needed. The pilot of the Artemis II mission is NASA astronaut Victor Glover.

Learn about Victor Glover about You Are: The Pilot

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Inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Artemis II crew members (from left) NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, and NASA astronaut Christina Koch are shown wearing test versions of the Orion crew survival system spacesuits they will wear on launch day as part of an integrated ground systems test on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
NASA/Kim Shiflett

More About Artemis II

Four astronauts will fly around the Moon to test NASA's foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, the Space Launch System rocket and the Orion spacecraft, for the first time with crew.

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Viewed from ground level, NASA's SLS rocket lifts off as a bright fireball streams from the bottom of the rocket.
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