NASA has paid testimonial to some of the most prominent African American people who have work for the agency over the X , from astronauts to railroad engineer to mathematicians . They have secrete a video feature these people as well asa pic albumof exposure from its other years to today .
Among the people featured in the video , is Guion “ Guy ” Bluford , the first African American to flee to space on Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983 . He blend on to wing three more time on Space Shuttle flight .
Then there is Dr. Mae Jemison , the first blackened woman to travel into space on Space Shuttle Endeavour . She has degrees in chemical engineering and African and African - American studies , as well as a medical degree and several honorary doctorates . Hers isthe quote"Never be limited by other citizenry ’s limited imaginations . "
artificer , physicist , engineer , and space scientist George Robert Carruthers is also featured . He is likely a less well - known figure than the public - facing astronauts Bluford and Jemison . Carruthers ’s greatest inventions were touch on to ultraviolet camera and detector , from a compact version used by the Apollo 16 astronaut to more advanced 1 used in telescopes , show the universe of hydrogen in the interstellar medium as well as observing Halley ’s comet in ultraviolet .
Dorothy Vaughan , Katherine Johnson , and Mary W. Jackson were also honored in the tribute . Their study was crucial during NASA ’s early years and their lives have been immortalized in the book ( and subsequently film)Hidden Figuresby Margot Lee Shetterly , which focus on them and other Black adult female function for the agency .
The contributions of African Americans to the oeuvre of NASA carry on to be crucial today , from being part ofthe Artemis programthat will land the first woman and the first soul of colour on lunar soil , to design newfangled mission , admit Ingenuity – the first whirlybird to take flight on another earth .
