NASA Astronaut Jeanette Epps Set to Become 1st Black Woman on Long Mission to International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps is set to be the first Black woman to join the International Space Station for a long-duration mission. While Epps was initially assigned to the International Space Station in 2018, she was later pulled from the mission.

In 2021, she is supposed to join the crew again for a long duration “Starliner” mission, according to reports. Epps said she is “looking forward to the mission” in a Twitter post.

NASA plans to have the mission take off in 2021, although the spacecraft is reportedly behind on development. The spacecraft’s first flight, which had no one on it, reportedly had numerous technical problems.

Epps will join the ranks of other Black women who have visited space. Mae Jemison was the first Black woman astronaut to travel to space in 1992. Stephanie Wilson also traveled to the ISS numerous times on shuttle missions.

Expected to travel on a separate mission, the first SpaceX Crew Dragon operational mission, is Victor Glover. The trip will make him the first African American astronaut to join the ISS crew for a long-duration mission.

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