In January, just as NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps was going to make history as the first long-term black astronaut aboard the International Space Station, her mission was abruptly canceled. Epps revealed that she still hasn't been given a reason she was taken off the mission.
Her family members believe her skin color may have played a role in the decision.
Jeanette Epps Still Isn't Being Told Why
In a recent interview with the Houston Chronicle, Epps revealed that she thinks someone from NASA and not Roscosmos made the decision to take her off the ISS mission. Roscosmos is a Russian space agency that helps NASA send its astronauts to the ISS. Epps said she has been kept in the dark about the decision to take her off the June 6 mission.
According to Epps, she didn't know how the decision to remove her from the mission was made or where it came from. She said that she had been training with the Russians in preparation for the mission and had good working relationships with them. Epps said that the Russians defended her, as it was dangerous to remove someone from a crew that has trained for years.
In its announcement about Epps being pulled from the mission, NASA didn't give a reason it had happened. Instead, NASA said that this was a decision that took a number of factors into account. It said that this was a personnel matter, for which it didn't provide information.
This would've been Epp's first flight into orbit. Instead, she was assigned to the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA said that there was a possibility that she could still be assigned to future missions to space.
Family Cites Discrimination
Epp's brother, Henry, took to Facebook to vent about NASA's decision to take his sister off the ISS mission. In a Facebook post, he blamed racism and misogyny at the space program as the reason for taking her sister off the mission. He said that it can be seen from the white astronaut who was chosen to replace her on the mission. Henry removed the post shortly after it was posted on Facebook.
He also linked to a MoveOn.org petition that asked NASA to reinstate his sister back on the mission. Epps wouldn't comment on the nature of her brother's statements and said that she didn't start the petition. She added that she didn't have a medical condition or family problem that prevented her from going to space. NASA said that diversity is an integral part of its missions and that its astronauts are diverse.
