NASA Astronaut to Be First Black Woman on Space Station Crew

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins will become the first black woman on the International Space Station’s crew.

It is due to be launched into space in April 2022 on the SpaceX Crew-4 mission from according to NASA.

Watkins was selected as an astronaut candidate in 2017 and has been preparing for his first space mission since then.

The other three crew members on the mission include NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Robert Hines, as well as Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency.

This is the fourth rotation flight by the crew of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, the space agency said.

The team will go into space at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Fla., in a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The astronauts will spend six months in the International Space Station’s microgravity laboratory conducting scientific research, NASA said.

Watkins attended Stanford University in California and earned his bachelor’s degree in geological and environmental sciences, then completed his doctorate in geology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The astronaut has a long history with NASA, having started her career there as an intern, and she has held positions at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, and at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

She was a member of the scientific team at Mars Science Laboratory during the construction of the Curiosity rover while working as a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

“Geology allowed me to study the surface of another planet and particularly to look at Mars, which was my passion,” said Watkins in a NASA video.

Several of his NASA colleagues congratulated Watkins on his new role and upcoming space trip.

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim said: “More turtles in space! Congratulations to my friend and teammate Jessica Watkins. She will be an amazing crewmate for @SpaceX Crew-4.”

More Turtles in space! Congrats to my friend and teammate, Jessica Watkins. She’s going to be an amazing crewmate for @SpaceX Crew-4. https://t.co/VtmuWrXUcq

– Jonny Kim (@JonnyKimUSA) November 17, 2021

Kathy Lueders, NASA human spaceflight program leader as associate manager of the Space Operations Mission Directorate, said: “Congratulations to @NASA_Astronauts Jessica Watkins! She has been chosen to join @astro_kjell, @Astro_FarmerBob and @esa’s @AstroSamantha on the next @SpaceX Crew-4 mission, the fourth rotation flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft crew for @Space_Station.”

Congrats to @NASA_Astronauts’ Jessica Watkins! She’s been chosen to join @astro_kjell, @Astro_FarmerBob, and @this’s @AstroSamantha on the upcoming @SpaceX Crew-4 mission, the fourth crew rotation flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the @Space_Station. https://t.co/gHJP92huLH

— Kathy Lueders (@KathyLueders) November 17, 2021

A story of pioneers

Countless people of color have paved the way over the past half century for Watkins to fulfill his extraterrestrial dreams.

Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. spent decades recruiting women and minority astronauts and would later become the first black person to walk in space in 1995.

Dr. Mae Jemison became the first black woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor in 1992.

In 2013, Victor Glover Jr., US Senate legislative deputy, was selected as an astronaut and became the first black man to fulfill a long-term mission on the International Space Station’s crew. He was a crew member from November 15, 2020 to May 2, 2021.

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