Jessica Watkins managed to make history as the first black female astronaut to reach the International Space Station (ISS).
Watkins joined the SpaceX crew that flew to the ISS on Wednesday (27/4), along with Kjell Lindgren, NASA astronaut and mission commander Robert Hines, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
The plan is that the four astronauts will spend six months on the ISS.
“I think it’s important to recognize this as a milestone for the institution (NASA) and our country, and to know that we are building the foundations as black female astronauts who have come before me,” Watkins said. Space.com.
“I’m really honored to be a small part of that legacy, but among the rest of the crew we’re still equals.”
On the other hand, Watkins is extending the list of female NASA astronauts who have flown to the ISS. Call it Mae Jemison, Stephanie Wilson, Joan Higginbotham and personal astronaut Sian Proctor.
Currently, there are still two black women in the NASA astronaut corps who have not yet flown into space, they are Yvonne Cagle and Jeanette Epps. Both are still waiting for their turn to be flown.
Watkins’ record-breaking won’t stop there considering he’s part of NASA’s Artemis mission. Because of that, she will again make history as the first black woman and the first African-American to fly and land on the moon.
NASA’s Artemis 1 program, which will be released this year, aims to bring humans back to land on the moon. Just like Apollo did in 1972.
“We’ve looked at a lot of images and even seen samples brought back by the Apollo astronauts,” Watkins said.
“But being able to become a real field geologist on the surface of another planet is like a dream.”
Quoted from USA TodayThe first black astronaut to go into space was Guion Bluford in 1983. Meanwhile, the first black woman to go into space was Mae Jemison in 1992.
Victor Glover, part of the SpaceX Crew-2 mission that launched in November 2020, became the first black astronaut to join the ISS.
In total, 7 of the 248 astronauts who have visited the ISS are black. However, no one was included in the expedition which lasted for months until Watkins did.
(can/arh)
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