U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris made a cosmic name to the International Space Station final week to have a good time the milestone spaceflight of NASA astronaut Victor Glover in orbit.
The name, which NASA and the White House launched on YouTube Saturday (Feb. 27), got here amid Black History Month, as Glover is halfway by way of a six-month flight to the house station. He is the primary Black astronaut to fly a long-duration mission to the station.
“Victor, it is so great to see you,” an excited Harris stated within the 3-minute video. “The history-making you are doing, we are so proud of you.”
Related: Astronaut Victor Glover explains why we will not at all times simply stick with house
Glover, 44, launched to the house station in November alongside three different astronauts as a part of SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission for NASA. He is a part of the station’s seven-person Expedition 64 crew and is making his first spaceflight since becoming a member of NASA’s astronaut corps in 2013.
Harris, who’s the primary girl and girl of coloration elected as vice chairman, requested Glover what he considered his personal achievement as the primary African-American astronaut to fly a long-duration mission to the house station. The astronaut stated his flight was solely doable due to the astronauts and cosmonauts who got here earlier than him to convey humanity to its present level in house exploration.
On April 12, the world will mark 60 years of human spaceflight. The first individual to fly in house, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, launched on that day in 1961.
“I really appreciate that legacy and I try to do my best to honor it,” Glover stated. “I think about right now, it is a time that we should celebrate and be appreciative of the current state of human spaceflight.”
“But really what I’m most excited about is the future of human spaceflight and the fact that this is going to be the future, this is what we’re going to do for the foreseeable future,” Glover added. “So yeah, that was a first. but it won’t be the only time that that’s happened.”
Harris agreed.
“My mother would say to me, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last,'” she stated.
Harris requested Glover about his latest spacewalks on Jan. 27 and Feb. 1 (he took one other one at present, Feb. 28) to improve the International Space Station, in addition to how his view of Earth from house permits a glimpse on the challenges of our planet.
“It is just a spectacular thing to see from here, and it’s very obvious to see from up here how thin our atmosphere is, just how special it is for there to be human life on this planet,” Glover stated of the view. “And so, it makes me want to do all that I can to protect that.”
“You inspiring us and you reminding us of what is possible when we dream big and when we think big,” Harris stated.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@house.com or observe him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.