Meet the Pomona native that will pilot group of astronauts on a historic launch into space
POMONA, Calif. (KABC) -- A Southern California native is set to pilot a group of astronauts this weekend in an important and historic launch to the International Space Station on a SpaceX rocket.
Navy Cmdr. Victor Glover, 44, grew up in Pomona and graduated from Ontario High School in 1994. He then went on to attend California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and earned a degree in engineering.
Glover then joined the U.S. Navy and became a Top Gun fighter pilot and earned three master's degrees. After all his years of hard work and dedication, he says he's ready to launch.
"We are getting ready to fly a new spacecraft to the International Space Station for six months. We've been working with our partner, SpaceX, for years to develop this spacecraft and the capability to fly it and operate it safely," he said.
Back in May, a test launch carried two astronauts into space and the Dragon capsule brought them back to a successful splashdown off the Florida coast.
Sunday's launch will now send four astronauts, three Americans and one from Japan, to the space station for a longer stay.
"To be able to fly a new spacecraft to our home of almost two decades in lower-Earth orbit is just an amazing accomplishment," the NASA astronaut said.
Glover is married with four children and his oldest child is now a senior in high school. He hopes to be back home in time for her graduation.
"That's what I'm thinking about, it's one day closer to my kid's graduation and so, I would love to be here for it, but we've had a talk and I've told her that if I have to watch from space, that would be pretty cool, too," Glover said. "It'll be memories, something for us to talk about later."
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon crew capsule were initially scheduled for launch Saturday, but weather conditions have pushed the launch window to 4:27 p.m. PT Sunday.
