CARLATA BRADLEY

Former NASA astronaut Dr.Bernard Harris (69) became the first
Black man to walk in space.        

       
His mission contributes to a burgeoning collaboration between
the United States and Russia in space exploration.

Bernard Harris stepped out of the space shuttle Discovery in
orbit on February 9, 1995.

Harris described his determination to become an astronaut as
a "big leap of faith" at a time when the Apollo 11 moon landing
shared headlines with the struggle for civil rights. "The main
challenge was the color of my skin."

NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin became the second
person to walk on the moon as part of the 1969
Apollo 11 mission.  
        
        
      

On January 12,1986, astronaut and physicist Franklin Chang-
Diaz became the first Hispanic American to fly in space on the
Space Shuttle Columbia, which orbited Earth 96 times, deployed
the SATCOM KU satellite used for broadcast television and
conducted experiments in astrophysics. It was a high point in
an aeronautical career with plenty of high points.

That six-day flight was the first of his seven space missions,
tying the record for most space flights held by astronaut Jerry
Ross.

Franklin Ramon Chang-Díaz will be 76 in
April.

U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford became
the first African American to travel into space when the space
shuttle Challenger lifted off on its third mission.

It was the first night launch of a space shuttle, and many people
stayed up late to watch the spacecraft roar up from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, at 2:32 a.m.

The Challenger spent six days in space, during which time
Bluford and his crew members launched a communications
satellite for the government of India, made contact with an
errant communications satellite, conducted various scientific experiments, and tested the shuttle’s robotic arm.

Guion Stewart Bluford Jr. (82)