Celebrating Black History Month: Jeanette Epps, African-American woman astronaut

Jeanette Epps, born November 3, 1970 in Syracuse, New York, was qualified to become an astronaut by NASA in 2011.  She served as an aquanaut in the Aquarius underwater laboratory in the NEEMO 18 expedition in July 2014.

She was selected to become the first African-American space crew member to visit the International Space Station but was replaced by her backup Serena Aunon-Chancellor. 

She is still active as an astronaut so look for her in the future!

Happy birthday, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide!

Akihiko Hoshide, born December 28, 1968 in Tokyo, Japan, has flown on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz to the International Space Station.  He is the third Japanese astronaut to conduct an EVA. 

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-124) May-June 2008 as a mission specialist.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-05M, launched in July 2012 to the ISS as part of Expeditions 32 and 33. It was during this time he performed EVAs with Suni Williams.

In 2014, he commanded NEEMO 18, an undersea exploration mission at NASA's Aquarius underwater laboratory.