{"id":52837,"date":"2022-02-03T13:40:09","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T19:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/?p=52837"},"modified":"2023-03-09T15:44:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T21:44:10","slug":"celebrating-black-history-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacecenter.org\/celebrating-black-history-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Black History Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recognition of Black History Month, Space Center Houston celebrates the African-American mathematicians, engineers, scientists, administrators, and astronauts who have contributed to the success of our nation’s human spaceflight programs.<\/p>\n

From NASA’s hidden figures to the promise of landing the first person of color on the lunar surface with Artemis, African-Americans have a rich history in human space exploration – past, present, and future.<\/p>\n

In honor of Black History Month, we created a gallery featuring some of these African-American trailblazers below:<\/p>\n\n\n

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According to NASA, he is the record holder among African-American astronauts<\/a> for the most spacewalks (7) and spacewalking time (45 hours, 34 minutes).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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She became the first African-American woman in space when she launched for STS-47 in 1992.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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This NASA astronaut later became NASA’s 12th administrator and its first African-American administrator.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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He was the first African-American to pilot (STS-51B) and command (STS-33) the space shuttle. He also became NASA’s first African-American deputy administrator.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In 2018, she became NASA Johnson Space Center’s first African-American female deputy director.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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His first spaceflight, NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission which launched in 2020, marked the first time an African-American astronaut joined the crew of a long-duration expedition on station (Expedition 64).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another of NASA’s hidden figures, she started as a human computer, but later became NASA’s first African-American female engineer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another of NASA’s hidden figures, she was a human computer who did the trajectory analysis for America’s first human spaceflight, Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 flight. Prior to his own launch, John Glenn requested to have her run the numbers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of NASA’s hidden figures, she got her start in the space industry as a human computer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the precursor to NASA. She was NACA’s first African-American female supervisor. Image credit: NASA<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In 1983, he became the first African-American to fly in space for STS-8.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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He was the first African-American to be selected for a space program.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In 1995, he became the first African-American to spacewalk during the STS-63 mission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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During his first spaceflight (STS-41B) in 1984, he became the first person to play the saxophone in space!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n

[envira-gallery id=”52888″]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want more Black history? Try taking our Black History Month Trivia quizzes<\/a>, read about 3 African-American space pioneers<\/a>, or learn more about NASA’s African-American astronauts<\/a>. You can also watch the NASA clip below to see just how important a role Black history has played in human space exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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