African-American Astronauts

Many of us possess talents and abilities but do not excel because we don't take the chances or act on the challenges that come our way. We need to walk over to the edge of our abilities and then move beyond that edge ... From the outside this can look difficult. However, once you've acquired the skills to perform the task, it seems almost easy. Like most things in life, it's easy if you know how.

—Ronald. E. McNair

Guion S. Bluford became the first African-American to go into space in August 1983 aboard the Challenger. It was the first launch and landing of a space shuttle at night. His mission on this flight included the deployment of an Indian communications satellite. He later served as a mission specialist on Challenger (October 30, 1985) and Discovery (April 28, 1991 and December 2, 1992).

Charles F. Bolden was the pilot on the space shuttle mission aboard the Discovery (April 24, 1990) which launched the Hubble space telescope and set an altitude record at 640 kilometres. He was also the pilot on Columbia (January 12, 1986) and Atlantis (March 24, 1992); and mission commander on Discovery (February 3, 1994).

Frederick D. Gregory became the first African-American Space Commander on the space shuttle mission aboard the Discovery (November 22, 1989) which deployed a satellite for the Department of Defense. On his first space flight, he was the pilot on Challenger (April 29, 1985) and he served as commander on Atlantis (November 24, 1991).

Mae C. Jemison became the first African-American woman to travel in space on the shuttle mission aboard the Endeavor (September 12, 1992), where she conducted experiments to study the effects of zero gravity on people and animals.

Bernard J. Harris became the first African-American to walk in space during the space shuttle Discovery's mission (February 2, 1995), which included a rendezvous with the Russian Space Station, Mir. He was also a mission specialist on Columbia (April 26, 1993), where he conducted research in physical and life sciences.

Ronald E. McNair was one of the seven crew members who were killed when the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after its launch on January 28, 1986. On this mission, he was supposed to carry out extensive studies on Halley's Comet. He previously served on the Challenger (February 3, 1984).

Books

African-American Astronauts, Gail Saunders-Smith, L. Octavia Tripp, Stanley P. Jones. Capstone Press, 1998.

Black:History Book Club Resource:
http://blackhistorybookclub.com

Join The Facebook Black:History Book Club:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19306591298&ref=share

Feed Shark