Celebrating Black Space Professionals
As we explore and learn about the impact of space professionals past and present, we highlight the tremendous contributions made by Black scientists and engineers who have actively participated in the space exploration sector. Browse through each profile and learn about their area of expertise and impact.
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Dr. Adaeze Ibik
Adaeze Ibik ist an astrophysicist, a graduate from the University of Toronto. She researched very bright explosions in the universe known as supernovae and fast radio bursts. We interviewed her in 2021 to learn more about her journey and work.
Dr. Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker II
Dr. Walker II was an American solar physicist from Cleveland, Ohio. He was a pioneer in X-ray spectroscopy and worked at Stanford University. He helped to create a satellite to study the Van Allen belt radiations. He also used rocket technology and satellites to study the Sun’s atmosphere at the ultraviolet and X-ray levels.
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Dr. Barbara A. Williams
Dr. Williams is a retired radio astronomer. She received her doctorate in Astronomy from the University of Maryland, College Park.
She studied galaxy groups to determine the evolution of galaxies. She was named as the Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1986.
Benjamin Bennaker
Benjamin Bennaker was an American naturalist and mathematician. He predicted a solar eclipse and published one of the earliest almanacs. He is often considered the first African American astronomer. A commemorative stamp was released in his honour in 1980.
Dr. Beth Brown
Dr. Brown was an astrophysicist and worked at NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre. She used x-ray observations to research elliptical galaxies and black holes. She was the first to earn a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Michigan. She loved to do public outreach while studying. She designed the first ever astronomy course for university students who had no astronomy experience. That course continues to run to date!
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Dorothy Vaughan
Dorothy Vaughan, also a mathematician, was an expert FORTRAN programmer and worked on the Scout Launch Vehicle Program. She is one of three women featured in Hidden Figures, a box-office hit movie.
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Dr. George Carruthers
Dr. Carruthers was from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. He was a space physicist and engineer. He perfected a compact and very powerful ultraviolet camera/spectrograph for NASA to use when it launched Apollo 16 in 1972.
He also designed a far-UV camera that was used on NASA Skylab 4 to photograph the hydrogen cloud around comet Kahoutek.
Gladys West
Gladys West is a mathematician. She created mathematical models of the shape of Earth, this work was used in satellite design and eventually formed the foundations of the GPS.
Guion Bluford
Guion Bluford, from Pennsylvania, USA, is an aerospace engineer, former Air Force officer, fighter pilot, and NASA astronaut. He made history on August 30, 1983, when he flew into space aboard the shuttle orbiter Challenger on the STS-8 mission, becoming the first African American in space!
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Dr. Jeanette J. Epps
Jeanette Epps, from Syracuse New York, has a Masters and PhD degree in aerospace engineering. She is actively involved in human analog missions that support humans in space. She is the second woman and first African-American woman to have participated in CAVES (an astronaut training course hosted by the European Space Agency where astronauts train in a space analogue cave setting).
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Katherine Johnson
Katherine Johnson, a mathematician, is best known for calculating the trajectory of Alan Shepard’s 1961 flight into space. She is one of three women featured in Hidden Figures, a box-office hit movie.
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Leland D. Melvin
Leland Melvin is an engineer and former astronaut. He spent over 565 hours in space during two space missions. He famously posed with his rescue dogs on his official astronaut portrait.
Dr. Louise Edwards
Dr. Edwards was the first Black Canadian to earn a PhD in Astronomy in early 2000s from Laval University, Quebec. Fun fact: she has been featured on a Canada Post stamp in 2002!
As an astrophysicist, she researches the formation and evolution of galaxies that lack gas and dust!
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Mae Carol Jemison
She is a former NASA Astronaut, engineer, and physician. She went up to space in 1992 for eight days and thereby became the first black woman in space. She has had a long illustrious career in the space sector. Our high school volunteer researched more about her and created a short video of her highlights.
Margaret Ikape
Originally from Nigeria, she is now a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto, Canada in the department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Her current work tries to understand the nature of the early universe using simulated data.
We asked her a few more questions about her journey in becoming an astronomer.
Miriam Micael
She works at the Canadian Space Agency as a Project Management Engineer. She has overseen several initatives within the agency including the Junior Astronaut Program.
Dr. Moogega Cooper
She is a Mechanical Engineer based in the United States. She oversees Planetary Protection teams for both the NASA Perseverance and InSight missions. She finds solutions to ensure planetary bodies (Earth and beyond) are protected from life forms and have minimal risks of contamination.
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Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is an astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. For several decades, he has been the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City.
Nicole Mortillaro
She is a journalist, senior science reporter at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), based in Toronto Canada. Additionally she is an author and editor at the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. Check out our interview with Nicole!
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Paula Cain
She is a Thermal Blanket Technician based in the United States. She works at NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre and is in charge of Planetary Protection. She creates one-of-a-kind thermal blankets to keep satellites like the Hubble Telescope safe in orbit.
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Sabrina Thompson
Sabrina is an American aerospace engineer originally from New York. She designs orbits and trajectories of several satellites for NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
She is also a fashion icon having her own label brand! She is actively involved in astronaut spacesuit design!
She is founder of Girls in Space Club.
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Dr. Thebe Medupe
Dr. Medupe is an astrophysicist and researcher at the South African Astronomical Observatory and teaches at North West University, South Africa.
He studies variable stars with strong magnetic fields. He leads the Cosmic Africa project that connects science and African culture.
Timiebi Aganaba
She is a Space Governance expert. She has worked in 5 different countries (UK, France, Nigeria, Canada, USA) in 6 fields (law firm, consulting firm, govt., academia, NGO, think tank) and 4 different functions (legal, research, teaching, executive) over her 15-year career.
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Victor Glover
Victor Glover is an astronaut, navy captain and test pilot.
He has spent 167 days, 6 hours, 29 minutes in space onboard the International Space Station!
He is the first person of colour to head onboard Artemis 2 mission to the Moon!!!
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Dr. Walter McAfee
Dr. McAfee was an American scientist and astronomer. He received his PhD in Physics and originally from Texas.
He was the first to calculate and show that radar signals could be successfully bounced from a ground-based antenna to the Moon and back! This was part of Project Diana.