Astronaut Group 8

Nine members of NASA Astronaut Group 8 changed the public face of American spaceflight. Selected on January 16, 1978, Anna Fisher, Shannon Lucid, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride, Rhea Seddon, Kathryn Sullivan, Guion Bluford, Frederick Gregory, and Ronald McNair entered an astronaut corps that had never before included women or African Americans.

They were part of a thirty-five-member class chosen as NASA prepared for the Space Shuttle. The new spacecraft required more than pilots. It needed engineers, physicians, scientists, and mission specialists who could operate experiments, deploy satellites, conduct spacewalks, use robotic systems, and manage increasingly complex work in orbit.

The six women in the class were Anna Fisher, Shannon Lucid, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride, Rhea Seddon, and Kathryn Sullivan. NASA sometimes referred to them collectively as the "FLATs" (First Lady Astronaut Trainees), an informal counterpart to the class nickname, the “Thirty-Five New Guys.” Their selection marked the first time women entered NASA’s astronaut corps.

The three African American men represented in this exhibit were Guion “Guy” Bluford, Frederick Gregory, and Ronald McNair. Each brought exceptional credentials. Bluford was an Air Force pilot and aerospace engineer. Gregory was a decorated military pilot and test pilot. McNair was a physicist whose research focused on lasers and molecular spectroscopy.

These nine astronauts entered NASA at a moment when the agency was deliberately broadening recruitment. Earlier astronaut groups had been drawn primarily from white male military test pilots. Group 8 preserved the demanding standards of the astronaut corps while recognizing that excellence could be found across a much wider range of professions, races, and genders.

The women faced scrutiny that their male classmates rarely encountered. Reporters asked about clothing, family life, appearance, and whether women were physically suited for spaceflight. Their training and performance steadily replaced speculation with evidence.

Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard Challenger on STS-7 in June 1983. Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to perform a spacewalk during STS-41G in October 1984. Anna Fisher became the first mother to travel into space. Shannon Lucid later completed a record-setting stay aboard the Russian space station Mir. Rhea Seddon helped lead major life-science missions aboard the Shuttle.

Guion Bluford became the first African American to travel into space when STS-8 launched in August 1983. Frederick Gregory became the first African American to pilot a spacecraft and later the first to command an American space mission. He eventually served as NASA deputy administrator and acting administrator.

Ronald McNair first flew aboard Challenger on STS-41B in 1984. A physicist, musician, and advocate for education, he became one of the most admired members of his class. Judith Resnik flew on the maiden voyage of Discovery in 1984. Both Resnik and McNair died with the STS-51L crew when Challenger was lost on January 28, 1986.

The importance of these nine astronauts cannot be measured only through individual records. Together, they changed who could be seen wearing a NASA flight suit, training for a mission, operating a spacecraft, and representing the United States beyond Earth.

For millions of Americans, their presence made the astronaut corps appear less remote and more representative. Women and African American children could look at NASA and, perhaps for the first time, see a future that included them.

These nine pioneers did not complete the work of opening American spaceflight to everyone. They began a transformation whose effects continue through every more diverse astronaut class that followed.