Former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Jr. grew up in segregated South Carolina. The retired U.S. Marine Corps major general became an astronaut in 1980, flew four space shuttle missions, and logged more than 680 hours in space. In July 2009, he made history as the first Black person confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead NASA.

Throughout his tenure in the Obama administration, Bolden championed representation across the agency and the space industry, including through diversity and inclusion initiatives and appointments that broke barriers in leadership, featuring women and people of color.

Chandelis Duster has covered national and international news, spanning politics, race and equality, entertainment, space, and science, with on-air and digital reporting at CNN, as well as bylines at NBC News and MSNBC. At CNN, she reported on race and equality, breaking major political stories, including investigations into discrimination against farmers of color, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and coverage of the Supreme Court. Her work also appears on NPR, where her stories reach millions...