Ellison Onizuka, first Asian-American astronaut, brought Hawaii to spaceJan. 25, 2016, 2:41 PM GMT+1 By Charles Lam
Ellison Onizuka was a local boy who made it to space.
Born in the community of Kealakekua in rural Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, Onizuka grew up playing among coffee plants and as a member of the Boy Scouts and the FFA.
He would eventually leave Hawaii for the mainland, and on Jan. 24, 1985, he became the first Asian-American, the first Japanese-American, and the first Hawaiian in space as an astronaut on the space shuttle Discovery. (...)
Ellison Onizuka eating on the space shuttle Discovery during STS-51-C, his first spaceflight. Courtesy of NASA
A Buddhist shrine for Ellison Onizuka and the Challenger crew at the 2011 Onizuka Space Science Day at El Camino College in California. Courtesy of the Foundation for Ellison S. OnizukaIn Ukiha, Japan, Onizuka’s grandparents’ hometown, there stands an Ellison Onizuka Bridge. In Hawaii, a visitor’s center on Mauna Kea bears his name. Two astronomical features, an asteroid and a crater on the moon, are also named named for him, as well as multiple streets, including one in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, which also hosts a memorial to the Challenger — a scale model of the shuttle. (...)
Even after his passing, Onizuka has left an impact on people — from current, retired, and future astronauts, to students and educators. American international travelers also carry a piece of Onizuka's memory with them: a quote from him appears on the final page of each U.S. passport.
“Every generation has the obligation to free men’s minds for a look at new worlds … to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation,” it reads. (...)
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/ellison-onizuka-first-asian-american-astronaut-brought-hawaiian-spirit-space-n502101
Wątek: Ellison Shoji Onizuka (24.06.1946-28.01.1986) (Przeczytany 1227 razy)