NPS grad to be part of SpaceX mission to International Space Station

(KION) SpaceX is set to launch four astronauts into orbit this weekend, and one of them has a connection to the Central Coast.

According to the Naval Postgraduate School, Lt. Cmdr. Victor Glover is an alumnus from 2009, and he is the 41st graduate to become a NASA astronaut. Glover holds a Master's in Systems Engineering Management- Product Development 21st Century program and received a space systems academic certificate. He earned both via distance learning.

Glover told NPS that even though the programs were very different, they provided a foundation for his training at the Johnson Space Center.

“I was a test pilot, working in the systems engineering field, actually doing test and evaluation under the umbrella of weapons systems acquisition,” Glover said. “My work product bolstered my school product, and likewise, my school product improved my work quality."

Several years after his graduation, former advisers and teachers described him as an overachiever.

“I remember Victor Glover as an exceptional student in the product development 21st century (PD-21) curriculum,” noted Dr. John Osmundson, a Research Associate Professor in the NPS Department of Information Sciences and co-advisor on Glover’s thesis. “He was extremely enthusiastic and always produced very high-quality, technical work. It was clear from his interactions with the rest of his PD-21 cohort that Victor was a natural leader. He had an outgoing, engaging personality and always integrated the rest of the students in course discussions and project work.”

Glover is set to be part of the SpaceX mission to the International Space Station along with two other NASA astronauts- Michael Hopkins and Shannon Walker- and an astronaut with Japan's space agency- Soichi Noguchi.

Glover will make history as the first Black American to be a full-time crew member on the ISS. It will be his first time flying to space.

Liftoff was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but CNN reports that rough winds at the Kennedy Space Center caused SpaceX and NASA to push the target launch time to 4:27 p.m. PT Sunday. If conditions do not improve, a backup launch day is scheduled for Nov. 18.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a social media post Thursday night that he took four COVID-19 tests, and two came back positive and two were negative. It is not clear yet, which result is accurate or if SpaceX has started contact tracing, according to CNN. The astronauts have reportedly followed pre-flight quarantine rules, but it is unknown when Musk was last in contact with SpaceX or NASA personnel who will be on duty over the weekend.