Black First of the Day

2009

Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (1946-?)

Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (1946-?) became the first African American to lead the NASA space program. With that appointment, Bolden became "America's leading voice for space exploration." He also became the 12th administrator of the agency and bears responsibility for managing NASA's resources as well as advancing its mission and goals. President Barack Obama appointed the highly decorated and highly regarded Bolden to the position and on July 15 the Senate confirmed his appointment. Of his experiences in space, Bolden said "I never dreamed of being an astronaut" but admitted that astronaut Ronald McNair encouraged him to apply for the space program. "And had it not been for him, who knows what I would have been doing now, but I wouldn't have been sitting here as NASA administrator." NASA's manned space program ended in July 2011.

In 1981, he was the first black U.S. Marine to become an astronaut in August this year. He became an astronaut in May 1980. Bolden participated in the deployment of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and also commanded space shuttles Atlantis and Discovery.

In 1994, the first in a series of joint ventures between the United States and Russian space programs began on February 3 and ended on April 11. Black commander Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (1946-) was the first black to lead the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's shuttle Discovery mission on such a joint venture. Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Bolden graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968, became a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, and fought in Vietnam where he flew over one hundred combat missions. He received his master's degree from the University of Southern California in 1977. He was a candidate for the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) from 1980 to 1981 and did systems development group work for NASA. Bolden held several positions with NASA; he served as special assistant to the director and pilot on the STS 61-C for Johnson Space Administration. He was commander for STS-60, the Russian/American Space Shuttle Mission. In May 2006 he was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Sources: Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 7, pp. 16-18; vol. 78, pp. 19-21; Joiner, "Bold Moves: Charles Bolden is the First African American to Lead the NASA Space Program," Crisis 116 (Fall 2009): 23-27; Gubert, Sawyer, and Fannin, Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space, pp. 30-33; Jet.

From Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Events by Jessie Carney Smith, © 2013 Visible Ink Press®. A celebration of achievement, accomplishments and pride.