NASA Removes First African-American Set For Space Station Flight

HOUSTON, TX — Jeanette Epps was set to make history that's out of this world. Just last year after it was announced she would be part of this summer's crew headed to the International Space Station, it was also realized she would become the first African-American to visit the ISS. That all changed late Thursday, though, when NASA released a statement Epps was bumped from the voyage for another astronaut.

Epps was scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan this June for a 143-day stay in space as part of Expedition 56/67. NASA announced Thursday that astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor would replace Epps, Auñón-Chancellor had been assigned to an ISS flight scheduled for launch in November, according to a report by CBS News. Astronaut Anne McClain will take Auñón-Chancellor’s place on the November flight.

"A number of factors are considered when making flight assignments; these decisions are personnel matters, for which NASA doesn’t provide information," NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean told CBS News.

A press release from NASA stated Epps will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston "to assume duties in the Astronaut Office and be considered for assignment to future missions."

Epps was a NASA fellow during graduate school and became an astronaut with NASA in 2009. She worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for seven years before joining NASA. She graduated with a physics degree from LeMoyne College, earned a master of science degree in aerospace engineering and a doctorate of philosophy in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland.

"I spent 11 and a half years in school beyond high school to get where I am today," Epps said during a 2015 program at Space Center Houston for middle school students, according to the Houston Chronicle. "I want to encourage you to take a course in STEM and build a foundation for yourself. Even if you don't end up where I am, it's a great place to get a feel for what's out there. Get involved. I never thought I'd get here, but here I am."

Auñón-Chancellor, a Colorado native, joined the astronaut corps in 2009 and has been at NASA since 2006, when she became a flight surgeon. Before being selected as an astronaut, she spent more than nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for space station crew members, including water survival training in the Ukraine, and served as the deputy lead for medical operations for NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

Auñón-Chancellor earned an electrical engineering degree from George Washington University, a master's degree in public health from the University of Texas Medical Branch and a doctorate in medicine from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Photo via NASA