Alan Shepard was the first American ever to fly in space. A former Navy test pilot, Shepard was one of the original seven astronauts chosen by NASA for its Mercury program. He became the first…
Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first American woman of color to travel into space on September 12, 1992. That was the day she rocketed into Earth orbit on an 8-day mission aboard the space shuttle…
Water on Mars The scientific community was intrigued by the startling announcement in June 2000 that some high-resolution images of Mars taken by the Mars Global Surveyor showed strong evidence of…
The Right StuffPioneer John Glenn Returns to Space by Michael Morrison Is there anything John Glenn can't do? College graduate, distinguished war hero, the first American to orbit the earth,…
astronautBorn: Nov. 19, 1956Birthplace: Elmira, New York Eileen Collins earned her pilot’s license while in college.Her grades and flight experience helped her to become one of the first women to…
Astronaut Guion Bluford became the first Black American in space when he flew on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. Guion Bluford was a Air Force fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, flying 144…
Space travel is still pretty new, but it hasn't escaped the realm of tragedy. Space-related deaths have occurred on the ground and in the air.1967Jan. 27, Apollo 1: a fire aboard the space capsule…
Name at birth: Donald Kent SlaytonDonald K. "Deke" Slayton was one of the original seven astronauts chosen for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Project Mercury, the first…
Profiles of the Columbia Astronauts by Borgna Brunner and Erin Martin Space Shuttle Columbia crew, from left to right, David M. Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P.…
