There’s an athlete set to orbit the moon.
Victor Glover, a 1999 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate, had a different career in mind before becoming one of four astronauts on NASA’s 10-day mission aboard Artemis II.
The Ontario, Calif., native played defensive back for the Mustangs’ football team and wrestled during his days at Cal Poly.
The latter, he said, was nearly as hard as rocket science.
“The hardest thing that I’ve ever chosen to do in my life was walking in space,” Glover told Cal Poly president Jeffrey Armstrong, per The Athletic. “The second-hardest thing that I ever chose to do in my life was wrestling practice with Lennis Cowell,” Cal Poly’s longtime wrestling coach.
His smarts were apparent to Andre Patterson, who coached football at Cal Poly while Glover was there, and now serves as the Giants’ defensive line coach.
“He may not have been the fastest guy out there or the most athletic guy out there, but he was going to succeed since he was the best technician out there,” Patterson told the Athletic. “That’s who he is at his core.”
Glover, who is set to become the first black man to orbit the moon, has maintained a connection to the university, giving speeches to various groups on campus, including the wrestling team.
“Our team loved hearing from him and you could tell his experience really resonated,” Cal Poly wrestling head coach Jon Sioredas told the outlet. “He has a unique ability to connect his journey to lessons that apply directly to young athletes.”
Artemis II left Earth’s orbit at 7:49 p.m. ET on Thursday, taking the crew to a place where only 24 humans have gone before.
The spacecraft is officially heading to the moon as of this writing after a test orbit around the globe.
