NASA is commemorating Juneteenth on Saturday (June 19) with a historic view from area.
Saturday, June 19 marks Juneteenth, formally Juneteenth Nationwide Independence day and also referred to as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Black Independence Day, which celebrates the tip of slavery within the U.S.
The vacation commemorates June 19, 1865 — a day when enslaved African Individuals in Galveston, Texas had been lastly in a position to declare their freedom when Union troops proclaimed freedom for slaves in Texas, greater than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, a federal order ending slavery. Whereas Lincoln’s proclamation freed many slaves within the U.S., it was initially ignored by many Accomplice states.
To honor the vacation, which was formally made a federal vacation yesterday (June 17) by President Joe Biden, NASA shared a picture from area of Galveston, Texas shining vibrant at evening.
Associated: Charles Bolden, NASA’s 1st Black administrator, speaks out on systemic racism
Making Juneteenth a federal vacation acknowledges that “(1) historical past ought to be considered a method for understanding the previous and fixing the challenges of the longer term; and (2) the celebration of the tip of slavery is a crucial and enriching a part of the historical past and heritage of america,” NASA Administrator Invoice Nelson stated in an announcement.
The picture shared by NASA was captured by the Expedition 36 crew in 2013 on board the Worldwide Area Station. Within the picture, you possibly can see the metropolitan areas of Texas lit up vibrant towards the darkish evening sky, with Galveston seen within the decrease proper nook.
So far, there have been solely 19 Black NASA astronauts, 15 of which have flown to area. Solely three of these had been girls, and of the 4 which have by no means flown to area, three have been girls.
Simply this previous yr, NASA astronaut Victor Glover grew to become the primary Black astronaut to affix the area station crew and keep for an prolonged time frame on the orbiting lab when he flew as a pilot as a part of Expedition 64 with SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission which launched on Nov. 15, 2020.
Electronic mail Chelsea Gohd at [email protected] or observe her on Twitter @chelsea_gohd. Comply with us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Fb.
