With the release of “Hidden Figures” there has been an increase in interest in the contributions Black people have made to space exploration.  The truth is, Black people and other people of color have made many contributions to space exploration in a variety of capacities over the years. In fact, it was recently misreported by many news mediums that NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps would be the first African American to board the International Space Station.  According to a recent article in the Scientific American:

Reporters, likely unfamiliar with space exploration, probably didn’t bother to look carefully at the announcement on NASA’s website, or didn’t understand the difference between an Expedition crew aboard the space station and a Soyuz or Shuttle crew going to the space station. The shuttle flew to the International Space Station (ISS) for years, carrying astronauts back and forth on short missions of a week or two to deliver supplies or to help with repairs. Some members of those shuttle crews joined a space station crew to stay aboard for longer stints. These longer-term Expedition crews were formed in a carefully orchestrated scheduled of overlaps and swap-outs that’s been going on since November 2, 2000.

This is why owning our narratives, and sharing them with the world is important.  At Black Sci-Fi we make it a point to highlight our stories– both fact and fiction, in an effort to spread awareness and keep the momentum going when it comes to sharing the contributions Black people make to science, to the world.

To read more visit: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/what-everyone-gets-wrong-about-black-history-in-the-space-age/