Contact: Matt Lazier | 805-756-7109 |   mlazier@calpoly.edu

Cal Poly photos by Joe Johnston

Glover, a 1999 Engineering grad, told students and employees how his Cal Poly education prepared him to help make history in the Artemis II voyage

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — NASA astronaut and Cal Poly alum Victor Glover told a crowd of nearly 1,300 university community members Monday how his Learn by Doing education served as the launching pad for his successes, including the recent Artemis II lunar mission that saw Glover and three other astronauts make history with the first circumlunar flyby in half a century.

Glover’s presentation, Mustangs to the Moon and Back, included a brief talk about his career up to and including Artemis II followed by a Q-and-A covering topics such as the chemistry and teamwork of the mission’s crew; maintaining physical and mental health in space; how seeing the Earth from afar affected him; and, of course, what advice Glover has for current students and recent graduates just embarking on their careers.

“We all spend a lot of time thinking about making the right choice — what major, what class. Then there’s a time to just commit,” Glover told the crowd when asked what advice he would give his younger self at Cal Poly. “We all have a point where the decision is made, now you’ve got to step out in faith and go all-in and give it your best. If you’re going to sweat the decision, that means it’s important. Now, sweat the actions once you’ve made the decision.”

Glover and fellow astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen traveled further from Earth than any other humans in history — 252,756 miles. In the process, as their Orion spacecraft circled the moon, they joined an exclusive club of less than 30 humans who have ever witnessed the far side of the moon firsthand.

When asked to share a particularly impactful moment from the journey, Glover showed a stunning mission photo showing the moon’s dark side as it eclipsed the sun and the Earth, haloed in light that the crew determined to be earthshine — the Earth reflecting sunlight onto the moon.

“I lost it; my brain divided by zero,” Glover told the crowd. “There is only one little slice of the universe where you could see this, at this moment. It was just such a miracle to experience.

“Going to space has made me sift through other experiences. There is all this wonder and magic in the universe — and sometimes we’re just moving too fast and we’re too busy and have too many things in the way to know it’s there.

“There are so many other things right here on this rock that we live on — and actually, the fact that we live on this rock is a miracle. This kind of stuff happens to us all the time, and we just need to be quiet on the inside and observe it and listen.”

Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong introduced Glover on Monday night and held up his story of success as an illustration of what Cal Poly students and alumni do every day.

“Cal Poly is a place where students arrive with big dreams, and we help them turn those dreams into reality,” Armstrong said. “That was certainly the case for Victor Glover.”

Watch the Presentation

The livestream video of Glover’s presentation is available for viewing online. Visit https://www.calpoly.edu/victor-glover to watch the video and see more information about Glover and his ongoing relationship with Cal Poly.

Photos and b-roll from Glover’s presentation are available. For more details, contact Matt Lazier.