A memoir by the former NASA astronaut and NFL wide receiver traces his personal journey from the gridiron to the stars, examining the intersecting roles of community, perseverance, and grace that create opportunities for success. "Leland Melvin is the only person in history to catch a pass in the National Football League and in space. Though his path from the gridiron to the heavens was riddled with setbacks and injury, Leland persevered to reach...

"The Space Age began just as the struggle for civil rights forced Americans to confront the long and bitter legacy of slavery, discrimination, and violence against African Americans. Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson utilized the space program as an agent for social change, using federal equal employment opportunity laws to open workplaces at NASA and NASA contractors to African Americans while creating thousands of research and technology...

In this imaginatively illustrated book from the Work It, Girl series, discover how Mae Jemison became the first African American woman in space in this true story of her life. Then, learn 10 key lessons from her work you can apply to your own life. When Mae Jemison was a little girl, she loved science, dancing and dinosaurs. She watched the Apollo moon landings and wondered why none of the astronauts were women - and she just didn't buy the answers...

"Blast off to space with these hidden heroes. Discover astronauts, mathematicians, engineers, and more who defined space exploration"--

Discusses how in the 1950s, black women made critical contributions to NASA by performing calculations that made it possible for the nation's astronauts to fly into space and return safely to Earth.

A biography of the black astronaut who was part of the ill-fated Challenger space shuttle mission that exploded on take-off in January 1986.

Briefly describes the lives and accomplishments of five African-American astronauts: Guion Bluford, Charles Bolden, Frederick Gregory, Bernard Harris, and Mae Jemison.

Mae Jemison was the first Black woman to go to space. She is an astronaut, doctor, engineer, writer, teacher, and dancer. Her adventurous spirit has taken her from healing people around the world, to dancing on stage, to orbiting the earth on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. In all her work, she inspires others to follow their curiosity, believe in themselves, and reach for the stars. This is her story.--from back cover

"Ramon Townsend is ready for a quiet life. Whatever went wrong on that failed moon mission, whatever happened in the missing minutes the cameras didn't capture, all he really wants is to settle down back home. But Ramon will soon discover that the accident left him changed--and, as the eyes of the world turn to him, he'll have to discover his new powers, protect his family, and work out who to trust as he takes his first steps into becoming something...