AFRICAN AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENTHistory for every day—and beyond.
January 16, 1978 · Science & Exploration

A New Generation of Explorers

NASA announced an astronaut class unlike any before it. Among the 35 selected were Guion Bluford, Frederick Gregory, and Ronald McNair—the first Black people admitted to NASA’s astronaut corps.

View the evidence Explore all 365 days

Then

Three Black candidates entered a corps that had never included an African American astronaut.

Now

Their flights and leadership altered who could be seen at the controls of American spaceflight.

Next

Representation must become a durable pipeline—not a single breakthrough.

The selection

Thirty-five names. A changed horizon.

On January 16, 1978, NASA publicly introduced its first new astronaut class in nine years. The group—known as Astronaut Group 8—contained 35 candidates. It was the agency’s first class to include women, Asian Americans, and African Americans.

The Black candidates were Air Force pilot Guion S. Bluford Jr., Air Force pilot Frederick D. Gregory, and physicist Ronald E. McNair. Selection did not guarantee a flight. It opened an exacting path of technical training, mission assignment, and years of preparation. Each man would turn that opening into a consequential career.

This date matters because the achievement was institutional as well as individual. The class changed NASA’s astronaut corps at the point of entry, creating the conditions for milestones that followed in orbit and in agency leadership.

01 · MISSION SPECIALIST

Guion “Guy” Bluford

In 1983, aboard STS-8, he became the first African American to fly in space. He completed four Space Shuttle missions.

NASA biography ↗
02 · PILOT & COMMANDER

Frederick Gregory

He became the first African American to command a spaceflight, leading STS-33 in 1989, and later served as NASA Deputy Administrator.

NASA biography ↗
03 · PHYSICIST

Ronald McNair

He flew as a mission specialist on STS-41-B in 1984 and was the second African American in space. He died in the Challenger disaster in 1986.

NASA biography ↗
Then → Now → Next

A date is the beginning of the story.

1978

NASA selects its most diverse astronaut class to date, including Bluford, Gregory, and McNair.

1983–89

Bluford becomes the first African American in space; Gregory becomes the first to command a space mission.

NEXT

Track not only “firsts,” but the systems that widen access to science, engineering, flight, and leadership.

Evidence ledger

Sources & verification

How 365+ verifies: Every dated claim is checked against primary or authoritative institutional records. We distinguish the date an event occurred from the date it was reported, and we link readers to the evidence.
  1. NASA — “Three of the Thirty-Five New Guys”: announcement date, class size, and the three Black candidates.
  2. NASA — STS-8 mission record: Bluford’s 1983 first.
  3. NASA — Frederick D. Gregory biography: missions, command, and agency leadership.
  4. NASA — Ronald E. McNair biography: education and flight record.
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