1995 – Bernard Harris becomes the first Black Man to Walk in Space

NASA astronaut

Born	Bernard Anthony Harris Jr. June 26, 1956 (age 67) Temple, Texas, U.S.
Education	University of Houston (BS, MBA) Texas Tech University (MD) University of Texas, Galveston (MS)
Space career
Time in space	18d 6h 8m
Selection	NASA Group 13 (1990)
Total EVAs	1
Total EVA time	4h 39m
Missions	STS-55 STS-63
Mission insignia

NASA astronaut Bernard Harris becomes the first Black man to walk in space. His mission contributes to a burgeoning collaboration between the United States and Russia in space exploration.

The Space Race

Bernard Harris stepped out of the space shuttle Discovery in orbit on February 9, 1995. He first embarked on the unlikely journey toward his historic spacewalk as a child, inspired by stargazing in his home state of Texas. Harris described his determination to become an astronaut as a “big leap of faith” at a time when the Apollo 11 moon landing shared headlines with the struggle for civil rights. “The main challenge was the color of my skin.”

Harris earned his medical degree and completed a residency at the Mayo Clinic before joining NASA as a flight surgeon. As an M.D. at NASA, Harris researched how human bone reacts to space flight, and he designed medical devices to help astronauts’ bodies adapt. In 1990, NASA selected him as part of its 13th astronaut class. In his career as an astronaut, Harris spent 18 days in space—and about five hours on his historic spacewalk. He recalled the awe of floating in space, seeing “this blue and white planet…against this backdrop of stars that I initially saw from Earth, and now see in space… Everything had its place. I have a greater sense of belonging, of the connectedness of all of us.” Throughout his NASA career, he traveled more than 7.2 million miles in space.

For the complete article: history.com