With a huge smile and wise words, Artemis II pilot Victor Glover returned to his home in Texas Monday, welcomed by cheering community members lining the streets of his neighborhood.
The NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy captain is originally from Pomona but currently lives with his family in League City, Texas.
The U.S. Navy sailors who were the ones to retrieve the Artemis II crew after landing off the coast of San Diego were honored. Amber Frias reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
As Glover arrived in his neighborhood Monday, onlookers captured videos of him riding in the passenger seat of a van. His window was rolled down and he was smiling ear to ear, waving at neighbors.
When Glover pulled into the driveway of his home, he stopped for a moment to speak to the crowd.
And, as he did so many times from space during the 10-day Artemis II mission, Glover shared some deeply moving words.
“Some of us have never met before and you know whose fault that is? Ours. So, let’s choose to do this. Let’s be this more. Let’s be neighbors,” Glover said.
“I don’t know if you heard me say it, but God told us to love him with all that we are and love our neighbors as ourselves,” he added.
Community members clapped and cheered.
“I love you,” Glover said, looking at his neighbors. “And we love you.”
To the moon and back, indeed.
Glover’s Southern California roots
Glover, 49, was born in Pomona, California.
He attended Ontario High School and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Last month, NBCLA spoke with Glover’s former classmate, Dr. Pamela Larde, who said Glover has always been highly ambitious and “has always been shooting for the moon.”
Larde said Glover is an excellent leader with a strong ability to remain calm in high-pressure situations.
Glover was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2013. He also served as the pilot on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 64.
As the Artemis II crew makes their way back to Earth, Victor Glover’s high school in Ontario is showing their pride. John Cádiz Klemack reports for the NBC4 News at 6 a.m. on April 10, 2026.
Artemis II goes down in history
On April 10, Glover, NASA Commander Reid Wiseman, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen returned to Earth after NASA’s first lunar mission in more than 50 years.
The crew of four said they are “bonded forever” by their 695,000-mile mission.
Together, they became the first humans to see the entire far side of the moon with their own eyes, a part of the moon that permanently faces away from Earth.
The historic mission made Koch the first woman to fly to the moon, Glover the first Black astronaut to fly to the moon, and Hansen the first non-U.S. Citizen to make the journey.
“Even bigger than my challenge trying to describe what we went through, the gratitude of seeing what we saw, doing what we did, and being with who I was with — it’s too big to just be in one body,” Glover said at a press conference over the weekend.
People cheered and clapped as Artemis II closed out humanity’s first lunar voyage. Amber Frias and Keenan Willard report for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2026.
The Artemis II crew’s 10-day journey captured the hearts of the world.
Along the way, Wiseman, Koch, Hansen, and Glover spoke inspiring words back down to Earth while completing their scientific research and speaking with reporters during daily press conferences.
In an interview on Easter Sunday, one day before the crew’s lunar flyby to the far side of the moon and their furthest point away from Earth, Glover reflected on the vastness of the universe and his faith.
“I think maybe the distance we are from you makes you think what we’re doing is special, but we’re the same distance from you. And I’m trying to tell you, just trust me, you are special,” he said. “In all of this emptiness — this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist (in) together.”
“I think as we go into Easter Sunday thinking about all the cultures all around the world —whether you celebrate it or not, whether you believe in God or not — this is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are and that we are the same thing. And that we got to get through this together,” Glover added from space.
His high school and college classmate said the Navy captain always seemed to be reaching for the stars. Christian Cázares reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 30, 2026.
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