Black astronaut will be inducted into Hall of Fame

By Reginald G. Victor

America’s first astronauts of the1960’s “Project Mercury”, envisioned a place where former astronauts could be honored. In 1990, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame was established. It is located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Inductees into the Hall of Fame are selected by a committee of former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials, former astronauts, spaceflight controllers and historians. The original “Mercury Seven” astronauts were the first group inducted into the inaugural class in 1990. This class included Alan Shephard and John Glenn. Dr. Bernard Harris will join them this year. Harris and his fellow NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will be inducted in a ceremony on May 31, 2025. Harris will join Guion Bluford, Frederick Gregory, Ronald McNair and Charles Bolden, the other African American astronauts inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Dr. Benard Harris was born on June 26, 1956, in Temple, Texas. When he was young, Harris watched space launches on television and read all he could about space travel. “When there was a space mission going on, I would go out at night and look at the stars and put myself in their place and share their experiences” he said. Harris attended Sam Houston High School in San Antonio, Texas. He played football, basketball and soccer. He also formed a rhythm and blues band which he participated in for four years. He graduated from Sam Houston in 1974. Harris attended the University of Houston and received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1978. In 1982, he earned a Doctorate of Medicine from Texas Tech University. He completed a residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in 1985. Harris then pursued research opportunities at the NASA Ames Research Center and the Johnson Space Center to enhance his resume for the astronaut program. He applied to become an astronaut in 1987. During that year, NASA selected 20 candidates, including Harris. However, only 15 could be accepted and he did not make the final cut. In the meantime, he was trained as flight surgeon at the Aerospace School of Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas in 1988. He reapplied to become a NASA astronaut in 1990 and was accepted in 1991.

Harris’s first spaceflight was Space Shuttle Mission STS-55 which began on April 26,1993 and lasted eleven days. During that mission, he was the designated Mission Specialist. The crew of the Space Shuttle “Columbia” completed investigations into fluid physics, material sciences, life sciences and biological sciences. They also participated in two amateur radio experiments that allowed students and amateur radio operators to talk directly to the space shuttle in orbit.

Harris was the designated Payload Commander on Space Shuttle Mission STS-63, which began on February 3, 1995, and lasted nine days. This was the second flight of the American-Russian Space Program which involved the Space Shuttle” Discovery” docking with the Russian Mir space station. During this mission, he became the first African American to walk in space.

Harris is the recipient of numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from Stoney Brook University and Morehouse School of Medicine. He was awarded the NASA Award of Merit, the Space Flight Medal, along with several other honors. Harris left NASA in April 1996. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Vesalius Ventures, Inc. It is a venture capital firm that invests in early-to-mid-stage healthcare technologies and companies. Vesalius Ventures focuses on the effective use of biomedical information, data and knowledge for problem solving and decision making in healthcare. He is also the founder of the Harris Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports math and science education and crime prevention programs for America’s youth. In 2005, the North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas named a middle school after Harris.