Social media erupts over NASA’s move
Online petition calls for black astronaut to be reinstated for ISS
Charges of racism erupt across social media after NASA replaces Jeanette Epps, slated to be the first black crew member on the space station, from its next mission.
Charges of racism erupted across social media over the weekend after NASA replaced Jeanette Epps, slated to be the first black crew member on the space station, from its next mission.
NASA did not offer an explanation Thursday night when it announced that Epps, a Syracuse, N.Y., native, would be replaced by Serena Auñón-Chancellor, a Hispanic flight surgeon selected as an astronaut alongside Epps in 2009.
An online petition was soon formed calling for both an explanation and Epps’ reinstatement. Many who signed the petition questioned whether the move was racially motivated. That sentiment exploded Saturday when Epps’ brother, Henry, took to Facebook saying, “My sister Dr. Jeannette Epps has been fighting against oppressive racism and misogynist in NASA and now they are holding her back and allowing a Caucasian Astronaut to take her place!” The post has since been removed.
Officials from NASA headquarters in Washington and at Johnson Space Center in Houston were unavailable to comment Monday due to the government shutdown.
Calls to 12 people listed on Whitepages.com with the last name Epps, both in Syracuse and Memphis, Tenn. (where Henry Epps lives, according to Facebook), either did not go through or went unanswered.
Henry Epps repeatedly shared on Facebook a link to an online petition demanding that Epps be reinstated to her space station mission. As of 7:45 p.m. Monday, the petition had more than 1,300 signatures, with many supporters calling on
NASA to give a viable reason for their decision.
“Return Dr. Jeanette Epps or at the very least give a VALID reason for her removal,” Tarnisha Williams, from Rocky Mount, N.C., commented on the petition Monday.
The petition on MoveOn.org touts Epps’ extensive resume, which includes seven years at the Central Intelligence Agency before joining NASA as an astronaut in 2009.
Epps would have been the 15th African-American to fly in space, according to NASA.
Roosevelt Wright Jr., who identified himself as a retired captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve, commented on the petition Monday that he has watched Epps’ “incredible growth and development.”
His signature line continued, “she has paid her dues, and her resume is ‘beyond the realms of greatness,’” he wrote. “She must be allowed to further ‘Make History at NASA!’”
Several petition commenters brought up NASA’s storied history with African-Americans, particularly women, which recently was illustrated in the book “Hidden Figures” by Margot Lee Shetterly and adapted as a film starring Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer.
“Put Dr. Jeanette Epps back in her position for the NASA mission,” wrote S. Hayes, from Orlando, Fla. “Or has NASA learned nothing about history and the black women who have contributed to the history of NASA.”
Invoking Trump
Epps did not respond to emails or Facebook messages from the Houston Chronicle but said in an email to the Washington Post that she couldn’t comment on NASA’s reasoning. She further told the Post that she did not have a family problem or a medical condition preventing her from participating in the mission.
In its announcement last week, NASA said Epps would return to the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center and would be considered for future space missions. Her replacement, Auñón-Chancellor, earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and is board-certified in internal and aerospace medicine.
David Milliken, from Centennial, Colo., commented on the petition Monday that “NASA will be diminished in the eyes of the nation” by Epps’ removal.
“This is a disastrous, racist administration. Its actions and appointments have all been made to benefit one extreme end of the political spectrum,” Milliken wrote. “NASA should not be seen to be making a racially biased change to an established mission team.”
Milliken wasn’t alone in bringing President Donald Trump’s administration into the discussion.
Michael J. Healy, who lives in Seattle and signed the petition Monday, commented that “in the political climate engendered by the current administration, this action by NASA seems suspicious.”
But Chan Mainor, a photographic artist and social editor based in Sacramento, Calif., took a different approach on Facebook, saying he was “hesitant” to make Epps’ removal about race — even though it would be “awesome” to have an African-American in space.
“NASA has proven time and again that race, gender, nationality is far secondary to the primary requirement of being able to do a very difficult job under very difficult circumstances,” Mainor wrote Monday.
Precedent of dismissals
He added that decisions to bench astronauts “are made all the time.”
“‘Undisclosed reasons’ means ‘none of our business.’ And since we aren’t running a space program, it really isn’t,” he said. “Regardless of race, many many astronauts study, train and prepare for an opportunity that may never arise. A very select few actually strap in and hang on.”
Efforts to reach the people who commented on social media or on the petition were unsuccessful Monday.
An internet search by the Houston Chronicle turned up three prominent cases in which an astronaut was removed from a mission to the space station:
• Mark Lee, who was removed from his mission in 1999 after an apparent “falling out” with the higher ups at NASA, according to CNN.
• Lisa Nowak, who was removed from her mission in 2007 following charges of attempted kidnapping related to a “confrontation with a romantic rival over the affections of space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein,” according to Space.com.
• Timothy Kopra, who was removed from his mission in 2011 following a bicycle accident, according to The Associated Press.
NASA officials did not provide a list of astronauts removed from International Space Station missions prior to the federal government shutdown Friday night.