During the summer of 1969, the whole world watched as astronaut Neil Armstrong touched down on the moon.
What You Need To Know
- ”The Space Race” weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden
- The film on National Geographic profiles the pioneering Black pilots, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth
- Many trailblazers at NASA are hidden figures, as portrayed in the Oscar Award-winning film of the same name
- Guy Bluford made history as the first Black astronaut in space in 1983 when he blasted into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger
Leland Melvin, who was 5 years old at the time, remembers the moment.
“I was holding the rabbit ears and my dad was guiding me on where the antenna would be so they could see the actual transmission of Neil walking on the moon, so I never actually saw the real transmission,” he said.
Growing up in Virginia, Melvin aimed high and became an astronaut in 1998.
He flew two missions on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, but admits he could not dream in color because there weren’t many astronauts who looked like him.
Since 1959, there have been 18 Black astronauts in NASA’s history out of 360 astronauts.
Melvin is featured in “The Space Race,” a documentary, streaming on National Geographic, filled with stories of pioneering pilots, scientists and engineers who took a leap of faith and joined NASA — even when segregation laws were still in effect.
“We have incredible stories in the Black community that have never been told and there are kids out there that if they saw these stories, they would go, ‘Wait a minute, that was way back before I was born.’ Like Harriet Tubman. The things Harriet Tubman did to get to freedom and save people’s lives and back and forth, Ed Dwight did that for us, the astronauts — the Black astronauts,” Melvin said.
Ed Dwight was the nation’s first Black astronaut trainee in 1962, but he faced ruthless discrimination and harassment from his colleagues.
He resigned in 1966, but now, the 90-year-old air force veteran is hailed as a pioneer.
“When I retired from NASA in 2014, he came to my retirement party and he was one of the final speakers. And he had to give a speech of why he was there and who he was because no one knew who he was,” he said. “You think about this man, who would’ve been the first Black astronaut, is speaking on my behalf? But who is he? Who is that little guy? What’s he doing here?”
Guy Bluford made history in 1983 when he blasted into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
Years ago, he told NASA, “I recognized that I was opening the door for other African Americans to fly in space, but I was also part of a team. So I take a great deal of pride in that.”
Black astronauts are a small fraternity with a powerful legacy. They reached for the stars and turned science fiction — into science fact.