Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover reflected on “the beauty of creation” as he delivered a message of faith and unity from deep space this weekend.
Glover, the pilot of the historic lunar mission, was asked by CBS News Saturday about observing the Easter holiday while traveling away from Earth.
“I don’t have anything prepared. I’m glad you brought it up, though; I think these observances are important,” Glover responded.
Invoking the Bible and humanity’s place in the cosmos, Glover shared his perspective on the uniqueness of Earth.
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“As we are so far from Earth and looking at the beauty of creation, I think, for me, one of the really important personal perspectives that I have up here is I can really see the Earth as one thing,” Glover said. “When I read the Bible and I look at all the amazing things that were done for us… You guys are talking to us because we’re in 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 and the cosmos.”
Glover emphasized how precious human life is while marveling at the planet’s place in the universe.
“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 together.”
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He said the holiday was an opportunity to reflect on a shared responsibility for unity, regardless of religious background.
“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’ve gotta get through this together.”
The Artemis II crew includes NASA Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen. The team is making humanity’s first journey to the moon since 1972, following a flight path similar to that of Apollo 13.
On Sunday, the crew sent additional Easter greetings and revealed they had celebrated by hiding “eggs” around the spacecraft.
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“We wanted to take a minute to commemorate the holiday that we have at this time of year, something that many religions and many cultures hold dear,” Koch said. “We did hide a few eggs around the cabin. They were the dehydrated scrambled egg variety, but we were all pretty happy with them.”
Hansen also shared a message, emphasizing love as a universal value.
“Happy Easter everyone,” he said. “We’re talking up here as a crew and we did want to send a special Easter message on this day and, no matter your faith or religion, for me the teachings of Jesus were always a very simple truth of love, universal love.”
