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African-americans In Science - Blog Posts
February is Black History Month, and it’s been the perfect excuse to research all of the African-American people who have contributed to space research and exploration! I talk about seven astronomers and nine astronauts who have delved into outer space because it was just so dang amazing, nothing could stop them from learning about it; astrophiles, if you will. Space-lovers.
Below the cut, I have the transcript, sources, music credits, and timeline of people I talked about! Maybe you have something you want to hear me talk about that’s related to space. I’m kind of set for topics for the next few months but I’ll take suggestions here or you can tweet at me on Twitter at @HDandtheVoid, or you can ask me to my face if you know me. Please subscribe on iTunes, rate my humble podcast and maybe review it, and tell friends if you think they’d like to hear it!
(My thoughts on the next episode are the SOFIA observatory, Chuck Yaeger, the transit of Venus, or quasars and blasars. The next episode will go up March 19th, unfortunately; I have a work retreat the day I’d usually post and I don’t trust the wifi out there. See you then!)
Script/Transcript
Timeline
Benjamin Banneker, American (1731-1806)
Dorothy Vaughan, American (1910-2008)
Katherine Johnson, American (1918- )
Mary Jackson, American (1921-2005)
Ed Dwight, American (1933- )
Robert Henry Lawrence, American (1935-1967)
Doctor Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker II, American (1936-2001)
Frederick Gregory, American (1941- )
Guion "Guy" Bluford, American (1942- )
Doctor Ronald E. McNair, American (1950-1986)
Ilan Ramon, Israeli, American (1954-2003)
Doctor Bernard Harris, Jr., American (1956- )
Doctor Mae Jemison, American (1956- )
Neil DeGrasse Tyson, American (1958- )
Michael P. Anderson, American (1959-2003)
Leland Melvin, American (1964- )
Doctor Beth A. Brown, American (1969-2008)
Sources
African Americans in Astronomy and Space via ThoughtCo (Mar 2017)
Benjamin Banneker via Encyclopedia Britannica
Benjamin Banneker via PBS
Benjamin Banneker via America’s Library
Benjamin Banneker via Brookhaven National Laboratory
Hidden Figures (2016)
Katherine Johnson via NASA
Mary Jackson via NASA
Dorothy Vaughan via NASA
Doctor Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker II via Encyclopedia Britannica
Doctor Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker II obituary via the American Astronomical Society
Ed Dwight via The History Makers
Robert Henry Lawrence via Black Past
Robert Henry Lawrence via PBS
Robert Henry Lawrence via Hill Air Force Base
Guion "Guy" Bluford via Space.com (Feb 2017)
Guion Bluford: “I mean, I laughed and giggled all the way up. It was such a fun ride.”
Guion "Guy" Bluford via NASA
Guion "Guy" Bluford via Encyclopedia Britannica
Doctor Ronald E. McNair via NASA
Doctor Ronald E. McNair via Black Past
Doctor Ronald E. McNair via New Jersey Institute of Technology
Frederick “Fred” Gregory via NASA
Frederick “Fred” Gregory via Black Past
The Harris Foundation website
“empower individuals, in particular minorities and others who are economically and/or socially disadvantaged, to recognize their potential and pursue their dreams.”
Doctor Mae Jemison via NASA
Doctor Mae Jemison via NASA
Doctor Mae Jemison via the U.S. National Library of Medicine
Mae Jemison: “I followed the Gemini, the Mercury, and the Apollo programs, I had books about them and I always assumed I would go into space. Not necessarily as an astronaut; I thought because we were on the moon when I was 11 or 12 years old, that we would be going to Mars—I'd be going to work on Mars as a scientist. And that's despite the fact that there were no women, and it was all white males—and in fact, I thought that was one of the dumbest things in the world, because I used to always worry, believe it or not as a little girl, I was like: What would aliens think of humans? You know, these are the only humans?”
Michael P. Anderson via NASA
Michael P. Anderson via Black Past
Ilan Ramon via NASA
Leland Melvin via Space.com (Nov 2017)
Leland Melvin as Makers Men via Space.com (May 2017)
Leland Melvin via NASA
Leland Melvin via Pioneer Works
Doctor Beth A. Brown via the American Physical Society
Doctor Beth A. Brown via the American Astronomical Society
Doctor Beth A. Brown via NASA
Neil DeGrasse Tyson via Hayden Planetarium
Neil DeGrasse Tyson via the New Yorker
StarTalk Radio via Apple Podcasts
Intro Music: ‘Better Times Will Come’ by No Luck Club off their album Prosperity
Filler Music: ‘Dorothy Dandridge Eyes (feat. Esperanza Spalding)’ by Janelle Monáe off her album The Electric Lady.
Outro Music: ‘Fields of Russia’ by Mutefish off their album On Draught
Mission Specialist Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space, during mission STS-47 .
via reddit
Why Star Trek matters.