On Wednesday, NASA announced that Jeanette J. Epps would be the first African-American astronaut to board the International Space Station as a crew member. She’s also the 13th woman to make this accomplishment. Epps will board ISS as a flight engineer in May 2018 on Expedition 56 with veteran astronaut Andrew Feustel, and will stay on board for Expedition 57.
Epps’ has expressed a huge amount of support for Hidden Figures (which is out now!) and women in STEM. The above video is from NASA’s Modern Figures initiative, which serves to highlight the stories of the “hidden” Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan, and the modern women pushing space exploration forward today, carrying on their legacy. “If you stay the course, put the time and effort in, it will become seamless eventually,” she says to young girls in STEM.
And if you needed any more encouragement to be a huge fan, here’s a picture of her with a TARDIS.
Dr. Abell & I found the #tardis @MidAmeriCon2. Sadly, the sonic screwdriver couldn’t open it. #doctorwho pic.twitter.com/XoW47AnvrJ
— Jeanette J. Epps (@Astro_Jeanette) August 20, 2016
You can learn more about Jeanette Epps here.
(via Huffington Post)
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