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Blast Off: A Look at Blacks Who Made History in Outer Space - After entering the Lynx Apollo Space Academy competition, South African Mandla Maseko, 25, was one of 23 people selected to be blasted 62 miles up on a sub-orbital flight aboard a Lynx Mark II shuttle in 2015. He will be the first Black African to go to space. Keep reading to check out other Blacks who made out-of-this-world history. — Dominique Zonyéé (@DominiqueZonyee)   (Photo: ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

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Guion Bluford - Aerospace engineer Guion Bluford got his start as a pilot in the Air Force before becoming a NASA astronaut in 1979.  He became the first African-American to travel to outer space in April 1983 aboard the space shuttle Challenger.(Photo: MPI/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: MPI/Getty Im

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Ronald McNair - Physicist Ronald McNair was the second African-American astronaut to travel to space in February 1984. But on the following mission, he lost his life aboard NASA’s second Challenger spacecraft when it exploded a mere 73 seconds into flight. Beyoncé sparked controversy last year when she used audio from the crashed mission on her album. (Photo: NASA/Space Frontiers/Getty Images)

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Mae Jemison  - Mae Jemison was the first African-American woman admitted into the NASA’s astronaut training program on June 4, 1987. After more than a year of training, on Sept. 12, 1992, she became the first African-American woman to travel to space aboard the Endeavour.(Photo: China Photos/Getty Images)

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Stephanie Wilson - Ten years after Jemison was the first African-American woman to join NASA and to travel to outer space, Stephanie Wilson became the second in April 1986. After two years of training she became a mission specialist and has flown on three shuttle missions. (Photo: Kim Shiflett/NASA via Getty Images)

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Joan Higginbotham - Joan Higginbotham was recruited by NASA in 1987 two weeks after receiving her B.S. in electrical engineering.  After more than a decade she became an astronaut candidate. In 2006, she boarded her first mission on the shuttle Discovery. She retired from NASA in 2007 after logging more than 308 hours in space.(Photo: Matt Stroshane/Getty Images)

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Frederick D. Gregory - Astronaut Frederick D. Gregory was selected in NASA’s astronaut program in January 1978 and was a member of the trio of African-American astronaut candidates with Ronald McNair and Guion Bluford. Gregory worked his way up NASA’s administrative ladder and was the first African-American appointed to deputy administrator.(Photo: NASA/Landov)

Photo By Photo: NASA/Landov

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Charles Bolden - Selected to join NASA in 1980, Charles Bolden became an astronaut a year later. He took on the role of chief of the Safety Division in 1986, overseeing safety efforts for the return to flight after the 1986 Challenger accident. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.

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Bernard Harris - Dr. Bernard Harris joined NASA in 1990, and in 1991 he became an astronaut. He boarded his first flight that same year. Harris became the first African-American to walk in space during the Discovery flight in 1995.(Photo: Hyungwon Kang/Landov)

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Leland Melvin - Before Leland Melvin joined NASA in 1989, he was drafted into the NFL in 1986 and spent time playing for the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. He remained on earth until he took two trips to the International Space Station in 2008 and 2009. He is the first NFL player to go to space or to join NASA.(Photo: NASA/Landov)

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Bobby Satcher - Bobby Satcher made NASA history when he became the first orthopedic surgeon in space, conducting a number of medical experiments in an 11-day 2009 NASA mission aboard the Atlantis. He joined NASA in 2004.(Photo: Matt Stroshane/Getty Images)