List of African-American astronauts facts for kids
African-American astronauts are Americans of African descent who have either traveled into space or been part of an astronaut program.
African-American astronauts
Traveled into space
# | Images | Names & Birth dates |
Notes | Missions & launch dates | Sources |
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1 | ![]() |
Guion Bluford November 22, 1942 |
First African-American astronaut in space |
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2 | ![]() |
Ronald McNair October 21, 1950 †January 28, 1986 |
First Baháʼí in space; died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster |
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3 | ![]() |
Frederick D. Gregory January 7, 1941 |
First African American to pilot and command a Space Shuttle mission; acting Administrator of NASA, 2005 |
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4 | ![]() |
Charles Bolden August 19, 1946 |
Administrator of NASA, July 17, 2009 – January 20, 2017 | ||
5 | ![]() |
Mae Jemison October 17, 1956 |
First African-American woman in space |
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6 | ![]() |
Bernard A. Harris Jr. June 26, 1956 |
First African American to walk in space |
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7 | ![]() |
Winston E. Scott August 6, 1950 |
Veteran of three spacewalks |
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8 | ![]() |
Robert Curbeam March 5, 1962 |
Veteran of seven spacewalks | ||
9 | ![]() |
Michael P. Anderson December 25, 1959 †February 1, 2003 |
Died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster | ||
10 | ![]() |
Stephanie Wilson September 27, 1966 |
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11 | ![]() |
Joan Higginbotham August 3, 1964 |
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12 | ![]() |
Alvin Drew November 5, 1962 |
Veteran of two spacewalks, February 28 and March 2, 2011 | ||
13 | ![]() |
Leland D. Melvin February 15, 1964 |
Associate Administrator for Education at NASA | ||
14 | ![]() |
Robert Satcher September 22, 1965 |
EVA November 19 and November 23, 2009 |
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15 | ![]() |
Victor J. Glover April 30, 1976 |
Joined ISS Expedition 64 as first African-American on an ISS Expedition |
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16 | ![]() |
Sian Proctor March 28, 1970 |
First African American female Spacecraft Pilot, as part of Inspiration4. First African American commercial Astronaut. |
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17 | ![]() |
Michael Strahan November 21, 1971 |
First African American space tourist |
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18 | ![]() |
Jessica Watkins May 14, 1988 |
First African American woman to be an ISS expedition crew member |
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19 | Jaison Robinson September 25, 1980 |
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20 | ![]() |
Jeanette J. Epps November 2, 1970 |
On August 4, 2023, NASA announced that Epps would join SpaceX Crew-8 that launched to space on March 4, 2024. |
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Never traveled into space
Image | Name Birth date |
Note | Sources |
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Robert Henry Lawrence Jr. October 2, 1935 †December 8, 1967 |
First African-American astronaut; selected for astronaut training in 1967 for the MOL program; died in an aircraft accident | |
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Livingston L. Holder Jr. September 29, 1956 |
USAF astronaut in the Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program | |
Michael E. Belt September 9, 1957 |
Astronaut, payload specialist from TERRA SCOUT – US Army Project; retired January 12, 1991. Although he did not fly any shuttle missions during his time as an astronaut, he was the back-up payload specialist to Thomas J. Hennen for the STS-44 mission which deployed a military satellite, undergoing 9 months of astronaut training for the role He was selected as an astronaut through the US Army's Terra Scout program which was created specifically to support STS-44. | ||
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Yvonne Cagle April 24, 1959 |
In NASA management |
See also
- Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, first person of African descent and first Afro-Latino to fly in space.
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List of African-American astronauts Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.