Science

Minority among elites: Female astronauts of color

  • Mae Jemison (left) and Sharon McDougle, a spacesuit technician, photographed in 1992

    The first woman of color in space: Mae Jemison

    Mae Jemison (left) is more than "just" the first astronaut of color. Sure, she was the first woman of color to fly on a US Space Shuttle and experiment with materials and bone cell research in space. But she has also worked in computer programming, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and reproductive biology. She runs a nonprofit STEM education foundation. And she's a keen jazz dancer.

  • Stephanie Wilson in a NASA jumpsuit

    The second flew thrice: Stephanie Wilson

    Stephanie Wilson is another multitalented astronaut. Wilson is an aerospace engineer who worked on the Galileo spacecraft before NASA selected her as an astronaut in 1996. But she had to wait another 10 years before her first mission in 2006, flying again in 2007 and 2010. She is now part of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to send the first woman to the moon.

  • A woman leans against a plane wearing a blue NASA jumpsuit and cradling her helmet

    And a third in 2006: Joan Higginbotham

    Joan Higginbotham was selected as a NASA astronaut in the same class as Stephanie Wilson. And she also waited 10 years to fly. As an electrical engineer, Higginbotham worked on various projects, including Space Shuttle Columbia, and was part of 53 shuttle launches over nine years. When she finally flew, Higginbotham was part of a crew that helped construct the International Space Station (ISS).

  • Photo of 2017 NASA astronauts class, the Turtles, shows a dozen smiling young people

    No shows: Cagle, Epps and Watkins

    Our gallery of female astronauts of color can't tell the whole story. Some may never fly. Yvonne Cagle has moved into NASA management. Jeanette Epps may ride the first Boeing Starliner-1 to the ISS. Jessica Watkins (center right) and Jasmin Moghbeli (center left), who has an Iranian background, are two of the newest recruits, the Turtles. If they're patient, they may fly in the next 10 years.

  • Sian Proctor, one of four crew on the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission 2021

    Massaged message: Sian Proctor

    Sian Proctor isn't just one of relatively few female astronauts of color — she was also among the first "civilian science" crews to orbit Earth. Proctor flew with SpaceX's Inspiration4 in September 2021. They called it civilian, but they were all professional aviators and scientists. Proctor had even once applied to join NASA's astronaut corps and is one of the agency's Solar System Ambassadors.

  • Chinese taikonaut Liu Yang, photographed in 2012, wears a spacesuit and smiles, waves

    Other nations 1: China's taikonauts

    The United States and Russia have traditionally had all the firsts in space. But China has rapidly stepped up recently to change that view, not least as the first nation to land on the far side of the moon. In 2012, Liu Yang (pictured) became China's first active female astronaut. A year later, Wang Yaping followed and taught a physics lesson live from the Tiangong-1 space station.

  • NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla

    Other nations 2: Astronauts of Indian origin

    There have been a few female astronauts of Indian origin in the United States, such as Kalpana Chawla (pictured) and Sunita Williams. Chawla first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia as a robotic arm operator. Her second mission on Columbia was a fateful flight in 2003, during which all the crew died when the shuttle disintegrated on reentry to Earth's atmosphere.

  • Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson carrying space tourist, aeronautical engineer and Virgin employee Sirisha Bandla on his shoulders

    The tourists: On shoulders of giants

    Do space tourists count as astronauts? They travel to space and belong to an elite like "real" astronauts, so we count them. Iranian American Anousheh Ansari was the first female space tourist in 2006. Indian-born aeronautical engineer Sirisha Bandla (pictured) flew with her Virgin boss, Richard Branson, in 2021. Ansari's XPRIZE and Virgin Galactic have been in space travel cahoots for decades.

  • Yi So-yeon, South Korea astronaut, leaps and grins while wearing her official jumpsuit

    Only one: South Korea's Yi So-yeon

    Yi So-yeon is not only the first South Korean female astronaut, but the first Korean — of any gender — to fly in space. A mechanical engineer working toward a PhD in biology, Yi was selected from 36,000 candidates to train in Russia for a flight to the ISS in 2008. She spent nine days in space. Her capsule landed badly when she returned, injuring her back. She resigned as an astronaut in 2014.

  • Japanese astronaut Chiaki Mukai

    Only one of two: Japan's Chiaki Mukai

    Japan's JAXA space program is one of the big four, along with the US's NASA, the European Space Agency and Russia's Roscosmos. But it has only ever had two female astronauts. The first was Chiaki Mukai (pictured). She flew on Space Shuttles Columbia and Discovery. The second, Naoko Yamazaki, flew on Discovery. To be fair, though, JAXA had just 11 astronauts in total, so it's done better than ESA.

  • UAE astronauts Mohammed al-Mulla and Noura al-Matroushi

    50/50: Inclusive space in the UAE

    The United Arab Emirates has been charging ahead in space of late. It has built a growing satellite industry and successfully launched its first scientific mission to Mars. It also established an astronaut program that is proceeding with a gender balance that others may envy, selecting Noura Al-Matrooshi (right) and Mohammed Al-Mulla for the program in April 2021. They will train with NASA.


The first female astronaut of color was African-American Mae Jemison — 30 years after the first men and white women flew in space.

  • Date 27.09.2021
  • Author Zulfikar Abbany