As those who’ve followed Artemis II’s record 252,756-mile journey from Earth have discovered, faith is extremely important to Victor Glover, the moon mission’s pilot.
In an interview with Glover and his crewmates Sunday, CBS News’ Mark Strassman noted that Apollo 8 — which in 1968 became the first human spaceflight to reach the moon — “had a memorable Christmas Eve reading from Genesis.
“Do you have a message from space that you’d like to share about Easter Sunday?” Strassman asked.
Glover replied that he didn’t have anything prepared but was glad Strassman brought it up.
Then the 49-year-old former combat aviator offered this eloquent response:
“I think these observances are important, and as we are so far from Earth and looking at the beauty of creation, I think for me one of the really personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really see Earth as one thing. And when I read the Bible and look at all the amazing things that were done for us — who were created — you have this amazing place, this spaceship.
“You guys are talking to us because we are on a spaceship really far from Earth. But you’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe, in the cosmos.
“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.
“In all of this emptiness — this is a whole lot of nothing, this thing we call the universe — you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist 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.”
The moon, backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse, is photographed by NASA’s Orion spacecraft on Monday during the Artemis II mission. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk. The bright spot visible just below the moon’s bottom right edge is Saturn. Beyond that, the bright spot at the right edge of the image is Mars.
‘Love God with all that you are’
On Monday, just before the Orion spacecraft experienced an anticipated 40-minute communications blackout on the far side of the moon, Glover again reflected on his faith.
“As we get close to the nearest point to the moon and farthest point from Earth — as we continue to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos — I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries there on Earth,” Glover said.
“And that’s love,” he added. “Christ said in response to what was the greatest command that it was to love God with all that you are. And he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it, and that to is love your neighbor as yourself.
“And so, as we prepare to go out of radio communication, we’re still able to feel your love from Earth. And to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you from the moon.”
I first became aware of Glover’s devotion to Jesus in 2020 — in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic — when a fellow Christian suggested that I tell his story.
At the time, the father of four daughters was preparing to embark on a six-month mission to the International Space Station.
I tried official and unofficial channels to request an interview, contacting NASA and sending an email to Glover’s wife, Dionna.
“It is likely too close to launch for us to be able to arrange for any time with Victor, but if you want to fill out the attached form and send it back to us, we can take a look and see if there’s anything we might be able to do,” a NASA public affairs specialist replied.
Podcast: Victor Glover discusses his faith with The Christian Chronicle
Two weeks later, when I checked on the status of my request, I was told, “I’m sorry, we don’t have any individual interview time left with Victor before his launch. However, he will be participating in a virtual Q&A event a few days before launch which you are welcome to join.”
But the next day, NASA emailed again to inform me Glover wanted to do the interview with The Christian Chronicle.
“We typically cannot arrange interviews this close to launch, but since Victor wants to support we definitely will,” said the NASA contact, who arranged a 30-minute window that afternoon for me to visit with Victor and Dionna via Zoom.
Glover’s faith journey
When we talked, Glover indicated that marrying Dionna and becoming a father played a major role in his faith journey.
“As we’ve become parents, that’s when I’ve really found an appreciation for my own faith and really growing my relationship with the Bible and my own personal spiritual growth,” said Glover, whose family attends the Southeast Church of Christ in Friendswood, Texas, about 6 miles from NASA’s Space Center Houston.
Of the International Space Station mission, he said, “I want to use the abilities that God has given me to do my job well and support my crewmates and mission and NASA. That’s really the thing I think the most about.”
In that same interview, Glover talked about learning patience. He joined NASA in 2013 and then trained for more than seven years before embarking on his first space mission.
“I would love to go to the moon, but that’s not something I control,” he told me then. “That’s really helped me understand patience. I spent some time meditating and thinking about that and praying and writing about that.”
Glover may be a famous astronaut, but he’s an attentive husband, too. When he sent me family photos to use with my story, he made sure to copy his wife.
“Of course, Dionna has first right of refusal,” he said in the email. “Thanks again and God bless you.”
After returning home from the space station, Glover appeared on the Chronicle’s podcast, hosted by my colleague B.T. Irwin.
“In the military, there’s a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes,” Glover said on the podcast. “There aren’t any on top of rockets, either, I would think.”
Victor Glover’s wife and daughters pose for a photo with fellow Christians after last week’s launch of Artemis II.
Faith in space
In a 2024 Associated Press feature, Holly Meyer highlighted a Baptist church’s effort to support its members on the space station:
About 10 miles from Johnson Space Center, a Houston-area church takes a moment during Wednesday Bible studies and Sunday evening services to pray for two members who cannot be there.
In fact, there’s no way on Earth for NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Tracy Dyson to show up at Providence Baptist Church. They’re in space, orbiting the planet. More specifically, these two members are working on the International Space Station together.
Like many astronauts before them, they brought along their faith when they launched into space.
“God uses all of us in pretty neat ways, and I think I get the most joy from what I do thinking about it in those terms,” said Dyson, discussing her job on the “Bible Project” podcast ahead of her March launch on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
While the Apollo 8 and Artemis II missions both included public references to religion, astronauts aboard the Artemis’ Orion spacecraft have struck a broader, more global tone, according to Religion News Service’s Jack Jenkins, who did his graduate thesis on religion in space.
In a story this week, Jenkins writes:
Much of the God-talk on the Artemis mission has centered on Glover, who is also the most publicly religious astronaut on the mission. He reportedly brought a Bible along with him for the 10-day journey in space, which is something he’s done before: He told The Christian Chronicle in 2020 that he had a Bible and Communion cups sent to the International Space Station in preparation for his arrival aboard a Space X capsule in November of that year. At the time, Glover suggested he planned to worship virtually with his church while in orbit, as he had been doing throughout the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On his Substack this week, Daniel Silliman — who interviewed Glover for Christianity Today in 2023 — recalled asking the astronaut about prayer:
Glover took the opportunity to talk about how prayer changed the way he saw himself as a pilot on a mission to the moon. He talked about how prayer shapes the pray-er, and that’s part of why Christians do it, not only to ask for things out there in the world but to communicate a request, a desire, a willingness for internal transformation. Prayer is an act of submission. It’s like opening a hand, more than pointing.
He gave the example of the Lord’s prayer, saying he prayed that a lot, praying that God’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven” as he anticipated slipping over the line from earth to space.
“When Jesus was teaching the disciples to pray, he used that very specific prayer that we all know, ‘Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name …,’” he said. “So, listen, I am a messenger of his kingdom; his will be done.”
The Artemis II crew is expected to splash down off the coast of San Diego later today.
As Glover offers his post-mission thoughts, don’t be surprised to hear more about his faith.
BOBBY ROSS JR. is Editor-in-Chief of The Christian Chronicle. Ross writes the Weekend Plug-in column for Religion Unplugged, where this piece originally appeared. Reach him at bobby@christianchronicle.org.
