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black-astronauts

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First Black-Owned Private Rocket Company Emerges To Create More Opportunities For Inclusion In Space Exploration

Founder Mateus Chipa wants the Black community to be more involved in space exploration. According to a Scripps News report of the 360 astronauts enlisted with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), just 18 had been Black astronauts as of Feb 5, 2024. For Chipa, he believed that to increase representation and empowerment it would be necessary for an influential Black entrepreneur to launch a company to break down barriers. According to his website, he waited eight years for Black leaders to step forward. In frustration after that time had passed, he decided to take matters into his own hands and established Theby Space Services (TSS) , a Black-owned private rocket company. “TSS came in a place of a lot of frustration, a lot of accountability and responsibility…For the last 10 years, I’ve been frustrated because I haven’t seen any Black nation or individual talking about going in a space,” Chipa said in a video shared on YouTube. “I’ve been asking myself why? Why...

Apr 16, 2024

NASA Has Enlisted 20 Black Astronauts Since Inception — Graduates Andre Douglas And Christopher Williams Are The Latest To Join That Group

These new astronauts are “preparing for takeoff” in NASA’s Astronaut Office. On March 5, 2024, NASA held a graduation ceremony at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, as 10 new graduates, “The Flies,” crossed the stage after completing two years of training, per a news release. Among the graduates are Andre Douglas and Christopher Williams — representing for Black astronauts. The monumental milestone is a dream come true for both Douglas and Williams. However, the two each had to make crucial decisions along their career paths that ultimately led to turning their dreams into reality. Following NASA’s graduation ceremony, Douglas recalled in an interview with AFROTECH™ about his journey of leaving the U.S. Coast Guard to pursue becoming an astronaut. While it became a great part of the Virginia native, and his father, who was also in the service, he knew he wanted to be in aerospace. Douglas’ curiosity for the industry began at age 7 when he looked through a telescope for the...

Mar 7, 2024

Victor Glover Set To Become The First Black Man NASA Sends To The Moon

There is a place in history for astronaut Victor Glover!

Apr 3, 2023

How Rejection Led Sian Proctor To Make History As The First Black Woman To Pilot A Spacecraft

At an early age, Sian Proctor dreamed to be afforded an opportunity to enter the galactic world. While celebrating her now achieved goal, she also made history in the process, becoming the first Black woman to pilot a spacecraft, according to the New York Times. Determined to reach space, Proctor received her Ph.D. along with a pilot’s license and SCUBA certification. In 2009, she was selected to participate in the final round of NASA’s competitive astronaut selection process — an impressive feat for a cohort consisting of 3,500 applicants. Unfortunately, her candidacy would ultimately be rejected. Others may have stopped, but for Proctor, her rejection would serve as the catalyst to discovering a new path. In 2013, she would accompany six individuals during a four-month mission in a building located near a Hawaiian volcano for an experiment imitating the conditions and stresses on a habitat like Mars. Proctor caught the eyes of a panel of judges for the Inspiration4 mission because...

Oct 15, 2021

Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Awards $15K To Morgan State University STEM Scholar Mikayla Harris

Morgan State University students continue to breed excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Mikayla Harris — a senior from the School of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences (SCMNS) — was awarded $15,000 from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) for 2021, Morgan State University announced. “I wanted to apply to represent Morgan State as well as Black women in STEM,” said Harris. “There is not enough biomedical research that includes Black people, people of color and other minority groups.” Harris is Morgan State University’s second consecutive scholar to win the highly competitive Astronaut Scholarship. In a nationwide selection, 60 top junior and senior STEM students across 44 universities were awarded the scholarship. According to Morgan News, ASF was founded in 1984 to “aid the U.S. in retaining its world leadership in science and technology by providing scholarships for exceptional college students pursuing degrees in those fields.”...

Sep 24, 2021

Vanessa Wyche Will Be The First Black Woman To Lead A NASA Center

A  Black woman is making history at NASA once again! According to Texas Public Radio, Vanessa Wyche will become the first Black woman to serve as director of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) center. Wyche, a 30-year- NASA veteran, will lead efforts in human spaceflight missions, the nation’s astronaut corps, International Space Station mission operations, and the Orion Program at the Johnson Space Center. NASA’s Johnson Space Center, located in Houston, Texas, is ready to embark on a new era of space flight and exploration led by Wyche. “We’ll have the opportunity to have robotic missions as well as human missions going to the moon and working in tandem together,” said Wyche in an interview. “So, yeah, now is an extremely exciting time.” That excitement includes partnering with SpaceX and Boeing on missions to the ISS which will eventually lead to missions to the Moon, reports Houston Public Media. “SpaceX has been successful at having our astronauts fly on...

Jul 14, 2021

12-Year-Old Genius Alena Wicker Just Enrolled in College to Become a NASA Scientist

A 12-year-old genius is making her parents — and the nation — proud with her latest accomplishment. Alena Wicker is set to begin her studies at Arizona State University, where she will have a double major in astronomical and planetary science and chemistry. Wicker’s ultimate goal, she says, is to become an engineer for NASA someday — and maybe even go into space! “I always dreamed of being an engineer because throughout my life I liked the building,” she told Arizona’s 11Alive News. She also said that she plans to finish college by the time she turns 16, and has every intention of not only building space rovers that are sent to other planets, but to drive the rovers in space, as well. Daphne McQuarter, the proud mother of the amazing 12-year-old girl, said that she wanted her daughter to chase her dreams, and was fully behind her efforts in doing so. She also said that when she first noticed her daughter’s special talents, she wanted to encourage her to keep developing them. “She...

Get to Know Carver & Jemi, Two Inclusive Robots Supporting Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Classrooms

Overcoming the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the modern classroom sometimes seems insurmountable. However, these inclusive robots are looking to change that. Carver & Jemi are the spokes-robots for the company RoboKind, which announced that they’re releasing these diverse and inclusive robots to promote DEI classrooms. Carver & Jemi were in development for more than a year before they hit the market, and Mary Shaw, the Sr. Director of Professional Development and Content of RoboKind, says that these robots are great for reaching children with autism, in particular. “During the last 10 years, we demonstrated the impact of our technology and its ability to empower students with Autism to break down social-emotional barriers,” Shaw said, in the press release announcement about the inclusive robots. “For us, that now extends beyond developmental differences and prioritizes diversity and inclusivity in the classroom.” Carver was named for legendary agriculturalist...