The African American Astronaut With a Crater on the Moon Named in His Honor
Celebrating the achievements and contributions of African Americans during black history month.
Published in
1 min readFeb 21, 2024
When NASA wanted to increase the number of minority and female astronauts, they contacted Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols to help recruit candidates. Out of 10,000 applicants, NASA chose 35 candidates, one of whom was named Ronald McNair, who would eventually become the second African American in space.
He’s probably most known for being one of the seven astronauts killed during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986. A lunar crater on the Moon was later named in his honor.
In celebration of Black History Month.
McNair graduated as valedictorian of Carver High School in 1967 and also received a Ph.D. in physics from MIT. There are over twenty K-12 schools named after him.
© 2024 Mark Baquiran. All rights reserved.
