First black astronaut to walk in space speaks at Troy University

TROY, Ala. (WSFA) – The first black astronaut to walk in space was a keynote speaker at the 3rd annual Troy Alumni Kappa Alpha Psi scholarship breakfast.

Now retired, Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. made his mark on STS-63 in February 1995 as the first African American to perform an extra-vehicular activity in space and perform a physical exam.

During his speech, Harris talked in detail about the future of space.

“Space is not only going to be our final frontier, but it’s going to be the frontier of the now at the frontier of the future,” Harris said, “It’s going to be a frontier that’s going to impact not only the astronauts’ lives on orbit but our lives here.”

The retired astronaut also mentioned that more people from the black and indigenous communities should be involved in STEM.

“If we, as people of color, don’t get involved and get involved now, we’re going to be literally left here on Earth,” Harris said.

During his time with NASA, Harris spent a total of 18 days, 6 hours, and 8 minutes in space.

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