The African American Astronaut With a Crater on the Moon Named in His Honor

When NASA wanted to increase the number of minority and female astronauts, they contacted Star Trek actress Nichelle Nichols to help recruit candidates. Out of 10,000 applicants, NASA chose 35 candidates, one of whom was named <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ronald-McNair" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Ronald McNair</a>, who would eventually become the second African American in space. He’s probably most known for being one of the seven astronauts killed during the launch of the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/challenger-sts-51l-accident/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986</a>. A lunar crater on the Moon was later <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/challenger-astronauts-memorialized-on-the-moon/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">named in his honor</a>. <a href="https://medium.com/the-shortform/the-african-american-astronaut-with-a-crater-on-the-moon-named-in-his-honor-dc556b0f24fd">Read More</a>