OURstory: Michael Anderson, NASA African American Astronaut

OURstory must be shared at all times of the year, not just in February. I think it is important that our young people challenge themselves in K-12 with science and math classes. Perhaps it will help if this blog shares examples of African American role models who used their knowledge of science and math to create exciting futures for themselves.

For example, Did you know that a young brother named Michael Anderson was born December 25, 1959, in Plattsburgh, New York. He graduated from Cheney High School in Cheney, Washington in 1977. He received a bachelor of science degree in physics/astronomy from University of Washington in 1981. Later he earned a master of science degree in physics from Creighton University.

He successfully got a job with NASA in December 1994. Anderson flew for over 593 hours in space. One of his spaces flight was in January 1988 on the Shuttle Endeavor.

His last flight was in 2003. Anderson was part of a 7-member shuttle mission launched by NASA on January 16, 2003. Space Shuttle Columbia was on a 16-day mission to research microgravity and other Earth science related experiments.

The seven member crew, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla and William McCool died on February 1, 2003 when Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry.

It was later determined that a piece of foam broke free and struck the shuttles wing during launch, damaging the thermal heat tiles which protect the shuttle from extreme temperatures during reentry into the atmosphere.

Michael Anderson was a hero. He was a role model for all of us. May he rest in peace.

Women in Technology: Dr. Aprille Ericsson (NASA)

BDPA has some remarkable African American women in its ranks. We boast Nubian queens with outstanding skills operating within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields ... from the classroom to the boardroom ... from young 'uns like Brandee Lyles to full-blown technology divas like Stephanie Lampkin or Lydia Barron or Diane Davis.

However, there are many obstacles for African American women in the IT industry. African American women earned only 0.34% of Ph.D.s in computer science and 0.58% in engineering, as of 2006, according to the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.

There are many reasons for this under-representation, including social and economic factors as well as gender bias. However, strides have been made and a select few have persevered: researching, innovating, mentoring, and paving the way for other African American women (and men) to follow in their footsteps.

Soulclap to Marcia Wade Talbert for making the effort to shake up our imaginations by interviewing female role models who don’t just work in some of the world’s most innovative fields ... they excel in them.

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Aprille J. Ericsson, Ph.D.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

As the deputy instrument manager for the ATLAS Instrument team at NASA, Aprille J. Ericsson leads development of an instrument to house satellite-based lasers used to measure the topography of ice sheets from space in order to measure global climate changes.

Ericsson, who holds a master’s of engineering and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in aerospace from Howard University and who earned a bachelor’s of science in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was previously one of the lead engineers on the concept study report for GEMS, or the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism Small Explorer. The unmanned observatory, which is scheduled to launch no later than April 2014, will be the first to measure polarized X-rays to study super massive black holes and magnetars. Ericsson’s work was influential in winning $105 million of funding for the project in 2009.

Ericsson was also the project engineer for LOLA, a lunar orbiter laser altimeter, which created an unprecedented topographic map of the moon’s landscape in late 2009.

“High school students need to be encouraged to do summer programs. If they have an interest in engineering or science they need to apply at field centers at NASA and NOAA so they get a feel for what they want to do,” says Ericsson, who did the same at a young age. “It’s really important to have [hands-on lab] exposure as early as freshman and sophomore year. They perform better with their course work because they learn in an applied atmosphere.”

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Black Enterprise shared the story of five 'Women in STEM'. We need to tell OURstory whenever we can. Otherwise we will forever remain stuck with HIS-story and that one will whitewash us out altogether.

NASA's Secret Rocket: Donya Douglas' Technology Blaze

Jeff Norman is a writer for the Guide to Online Schools.

Attracting quite a bit of much deserved attention these days is Donya Douglas, who is serving NASA to the best of her ability at the Goddard Flight Space Center as a thermal engineer. Working as an associate Branch Head in Instrument Systems, not necessarily a top-flight position, has not at all clouded the respect and pride she has engendered throughout the African American community. Technology is a field that continues to suffer a dearth in the presence of noteworthy Black individuals who are truly making a difference. All the more credit, then, is delivered to Ms. Douglas, whose work for NASA represents a quiet yet authoritative vanguard for both women and African Americans doing excellently in the realm of science.

Douglas' penchant for the sciences was rooted in her childhood. She has said that both science and math impassioned her during her beginning years of schooling, and that her knowledge that she would be an engineer was something she had at the age of ten. NASA was her number-one dream upon graduating from high school, and she took full advantage of an internship from NASA that was offered to her. That experience let her know that she was not alone in her zeal for technology; there was a visible presence of both women and minorities at NASA, and the sight of them let her know that she had a place there.


Douglas has been acclaimed seemingly to no end for her contribution to the technology community. Tennessee State University requested her permission to cite her example in a forthcoming textbook for elementary schools; she was also blessed with the Richard H. Goddard Award for Engineering and has found her career celebrated in "Space Place," an animated, science-based program for kids produced by NASA.

Her achievements have lent her a great deal of understanding as to the matter of the lack of African Americans in her field. She reasons the issue stems from insufficient preparation of young Black students, early in their education careers, on the joy and possibility of science and math. Frequently, those subjects in particular can be improperly framed as difficult, a challenge for students to surmount, instead of as a field of open knowledge and progress that is open to all who are willing to learn their rhyme and reason. Douglas has successfully insured that her own three children greet the sciences and technology with open arms -- one of them is already on the path to securing a degree in electrical engineering.

Douglas also cites the positive influence of teachers in launching her passion. For her, science and math were never subjects merely relegated to an hour-long, daily class. She participated in myriad after-school activities that showed the amusement possible in the fields.

Douglas commends her company, NASA, for their historically energetic endeavors to rouse an appreciation for the sciences in the Black community. NASA has been known to collaborate with several institutions that host a primarily African American community of students, and Douglas has done her own part to raise science's profile in the community with numerous public speaking ventures and offering mentorship to students seeking it.

On Douglas' mind at the moment is an urge to increase the visibility of NASA's efforts in robotic missions. The moon, Mars, and more are all locations that are prime for serious scientific inquiry. She's been in the field for nearly two decades now, and has a body of published work to rival those of even the most seasoned academics.

A big thank you goes out to Ms. Douglas; she's proven that African Americans in science can take flight today better than ever before.

NOTE: Information derived from interviews given by Ms. Douglas to Sister Mentors and Black Enterprise.