Black Astronaut Made Space History in 1995. Now He's Getting Inducted into Hall of Fame (Exclusive)
He made history in 1995, becoming the first Black astronaut to perform a spacewalk
"To be part of the foundation for what we're doing in space now is really fulfilling," he tells PEOPLEDr. Bernard Harris Jr. grew up in Texas as NASA was developing and always had an interest in science – but once he watched man land on the moon, even at 13, he began to have astronaut dreams.
'I knew what I wanted to do,' he tells PEOPLE. 'I wanted to follow the footsteps of these great men, human beings, that had done something for the very first time in human history.'
That's exactly what he did.
Now Harris — who became the first Black person to perform a spacewalk and recently released his second book, Embracing Infinite Possibilities — will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on Saturday, May 31.
Before going to college at the University of Houston, Harris, now 68, tells PEOPLE he realized he wanted to become a doctor so he could practice medicine on Earth – and in space.
Following his residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Harris pursued a fellowship in endocrinology because he was 'advised to find the most critical aspect of humans in space that needed to be solved' — and one of those is bone loss. (Astronauts lose 1% of bone per month in space, he says.)
By 1990, Harris applied and spent a year of astronaut basic training. About three weeks later, he was assigned to his first mission: the STS-55 on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1993. During that trip, Harris says he did the first medical examination in space and even the first intravenous line.
'It was only natural for me to say, 'Okay, if we're going to be in space for long periods of time, how do we ensure that humans can survive up there?' " he recalls.
For his second mission, STS-63 on Space Shuttle Discovery in 1995, Harris completed his historic spacewalk. That mission was also notable because Eileen Collins made history as the first female space commander.
'To be part of the foundation for what we're doing in space now is really fulfilling,' he says, adding that he loves to see younger astronauts taking over – and having longer stays in space.
Speaking of those longer stays, although the International Space Station wasn't built during his career as an astronaut, some of the devices that crews use today were originally developed in his laboratory.
After his two space missions — which included logging 438 hours and traveling over 7.2 million miles — he ventured into philanthropy with the launch of his nonprofit, which supports youth programs in math and science education and crime prevention.
Then it was time to go after his dream of becoming an entrepreneur – and his work has always been a bit ahead of the curve.
As CEO and managing partner of Vesalius Ventures, Harris focused on telemedicine before many even knew how that would work and was previously hired by Spacehab (now the Astrotech Corporation), one of the first commercial private space companies.
'That was way ahead of SpaceX and Blue Origin, and what we're doing now," he adds.
As for the future of space tourism and where he believes the space program is headed, Harris says he continues to be excited that there are more avenues to get to space.
'There'll be tremendous opportunities on the moon. And I think that when we then take that bigger leap to go to Mars,' he believes.
He ultimately sees the continued progress as a way to unify.
'When I was out on my spacewalk," he says, 'looking back at the earth, [I realized] how important this spaceship that we live on planet Earth is to us all. From that distance, you can't see the divisions that divide us here on earth. And my hope is that space will be an opportunity for us to come together as a people."
Embracing Infinite Possibilities is out now. You can purchase it here.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Another Moon Landing Will Take More Than Rocket Science
You don't hear the phrase, 'If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we…' much anymore. Perhaps that's because it's not clear that 21st-century America can put a person on the moon again. The Wall Street Journal resurrected the expression in 2018, in a story about the cost overruns and bureaucratic snags hampering NASA's Artemis program. The headline read, 'If We Can Put a Man on the Moon, Why Can't We Put a Man on the Moon?'
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
The Parker Solar probe captures closest-ever images of the Sun. See the results.
Newly released imagery from NASA shows the Sun's corona in stunning detail after the Parker Solar probe performed its closest-ever flyby. On its closest-ever flyby to the Sun, NASA's Parker Solar probe captured newly released images of solar winds purging out from the Sun's outermost atmosphere, the Corona. Scientists are learning more about the Sun's impact throughout the solar system, including events that may have an impact on Earth. 'Parker Solar Probe has once again transported us into the dynamic atmosphere of our closest star,' said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington in a recent release. 'We are witnessing where space weather threats to Earth begin, with our eyes, not just with models. This new data will help us vastly improve our space weather predictions to ensure the safety of our astronauts and the protection of our technology here on Earth and throughout the solar system.' Sun's solar wind captured in detail For the first time, the probe recorded in high resolution the collision of numerous coronal mass ejections (or CMEs) which are massive explosions of charged particles that play a major role in space weather. 'In these images, we're seeing the CMEs basically piling up on top of one another,' said Angelos Vourlidas, the WISPR instrument scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which designed, built, and operates the spacecraft in Laurel, Maryland. 'We're using this to figure out how the CMEs merge together, which can be important for space weather.' Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. The Parker Solar Probe discovered that while the solar wind is a steady breeze near Earth, it is anything but at the Sun. The spacecraft experienced switchbacks, or zigzag magnetic fields, when it got within 14.7 million miles of the Sun. Scientists found that these switchbacks, which occurred in clusters, were more frequent than anticipated using data from the Parker Solar Probe. How close was the probe to the sun? On December 24, 2024, the Parker Solar Probe began its closest approach to the Sun, traveling only 3.8 million miles from the solar surface. Putting that into perspective, if the Earth and Sun were only 1 foot apart, the Parker probe would be about a 1/2 inch from the Sun's surface, according to NASA. In the spacecraft's closest orbit to the Sun, it used a variety of scientific instruments, including the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe (or WISPR) to gather data as it passed through the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona. The solar wind, a continuous flow of electrically charged particles from the Sun that rages throughout the solar system and the corona are both visible in the new WISPR photos. Knowing the origins of the solar wind near the Sun is the first step towards comprehending its effects, according to NASA. More: James Webb Space Telescope marks 3rd anniversary: What to know about observatory More: NASA astronaut captures rare phenomenon from 250 miles above Earth: See photo of 'sprite' How the Sun's solar winds impact Earth's atmosphere The Earth's magnetic field is our invisible protector. The field creates a barrier that shields us from the powerful solar winds. The magnetic field can occasionally become disrupted by stronger solar winds. According to NASA, in some cases, it can also trigger space weather events that interfere with everything from land-based power networks to ship communications on our oceans to our satellites in orbit. Stunning auroras are also created when the particle stream interacts with gases in the planet's magnetic field. Parker Solar Probe is expected to continue gathering more data in its present orbit as it makes future passes through the corona to assist scientists to discover the origins of the sluggish solar wind. The next pass is scheduled for September 15, 2025. SOURCE NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Johns Hopkins APL, Naval Research Laboratory and USA TODAY research
Fast Company
4 hours ago
- Fast Company
A newly discovered exoplanet rekindles humanity's oldest question: Are we alone?
Child psychologists tell us that around the age of five or six, children begin to seriously contemplate the world around them. It's a glorious moment every parent recognizes—when young minds start to grasp the magnificence and mystery of the universe beyond their nurseries and bedrooms. That wonderment—their very own 'aha' moments, and the questions they provoke—are what truly make us human. And this summer, thanks to both the scientific triumphs of astronomers and the creative feats of pop culture, we are reminded once again that curiosity is our most powerful gift. Remarkably, the profound questions asked by our youngest philosophers continue to echo throughout our lives, returning again and again as the most compelling of all inquiries. Definitely discoverable, possibly livable Earlier this summer, the James Webb Space Telescope—launched in 2021 and continually gathering data on planets beyond our solar system— identified a previously unknown exoplanet. What made this discovery particularly groundbreaking is that, unlike earlier exoplanets detected indirectly by observing the dimming of starlight, this one was directly imaged. Even more exciting: according to NASA, this new exoplanet—named CE Antliae and roughly 100 times the size of Earth—is, based on its average temperature, theoretically capable of sustaining habitable life. I find this moment thrilling for many reasons. First, I hold the deepest admiration for the brilliance of NASA scientists—and the researchers whose work they built upon—that made this discovery possible. Second, it serves as a powerful reminder of the essential role government plays in pushing the boundaries of knowledge. These physical frontiers also invite us to explore existential ones. The possibility of a habitable planet offers a momentary escape from the noise of the daily news cycle, and reopens a question that has captivated us since ancient times: Are we alone? Simply looking up at the night sky—a universal gift—places us in the company of Democritus, Epicurus, and later, the Persians, who speculated about extraterrestrial life as far back as 400 BCE. It's one of humanity's oldest questions, fueled by an innate curiosity that rarely yields immediate answers. Science has its own schedule Of course, we're far from confirming whether this exoplanet has its own version of Uber or inhabitants with built-in AI. Science operates on its own timeline. To have directly observed an exoplanet only five years after Webb's launch could be seen as astonishingly fast—or perhaps not, given the advanced tools now at our disposal, from machine learning to quantum computing. In today's attention economy, dominated by thumb-scrolling and short-form content, we risk losing sight of the long view that science requires. The rise of generative AI and its future successor, AGI, may well disrupt the pace of discovery. But even then, the scientific process will still demand patience and rigor. We must remember: it took nearly a century to confirm Einstein's theory of gravitational waves. The theory of continental drift was proposed in 1912, but not proven until the 1960s. Black holes were hypothesized in the early 1900s, yet the first image didn't arrive until 2019. One of the many reasons I advocate so strongly for STEM education is that children need to understand science as a process—a patient, layered accumulation of insight. Humanity's oldest question—'are we alone in the universe?'—likely won't be answered quickly. And even if it is, critical thinking and the scientific method remain essential. Yes, flashes of insight can transform history. But even those leaps must launch from a foundation of conventional wisdom. Science is a continuous journey of discovery—both awe-inspiring and, at times, unsettling. Pop culture meets the 'what's out there' question Movies and literature have long reflected our obsession with the unknown—from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Contact to Dune. This summer, Alien: Earth premieres. Reading about this reimagining of first contact, I couldn't help but think of CE Antliae and how science and art intersect. The discovery of a potentially habitable planet pushes us to reconsider what we define as 'science fiction.' There are many paths through which humanity seeks to understand its place in the universe. And we need both our most gifted scientists and our most imaginative artists to help us ask—and keep asking—the cosmic questions that first stirred our six-year-old minds and have never let go.
