Challenge: African or Afro-American/Afro-Caribbean astronaut the first man/woman on the Moon

Petike

Petike

What is the earliest possible date, in a 20th century with closely similar technological progression of spaceflight as in OTL, that the first man on the Moon ends up being an African-American citizen of the US, or a person of Afro-Caribbean descent, or a person born directly in an African country (the latter after decolonisation and achievement of independence) ?

In OTL, we have Mr. Armstrong, but if the historic privilege of setting their feet on the surface of another celestial body fell to a guy of African descent, how could it happen ?

Bonus points if you can get the first moonwalker to be not only of African-heritage, but also a lady. :cool:

Which country achieves this isn't as important. It could be the US, or maybe some other country in the era of decolonisation (UK, France, whoever, some wanked early African Union or something). Ideally with a 20th century POD, but if you must drive the POD even earlier, keep the tech at a roughly OTL Apollo level.
 

The Undead Martyr

America or imperial Germany go socialist and decide to appoint a non white person to prove the superiority of glorious space communism.

Other than that I got nothing.
 
Petike

Petike

Zheng He said:
Chappie James joins the Astronaut Corps in the 1960s?
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Nice ! :) Was there any point in OTL when he contemplated joining NASA's early AC ? We could go from there.

Idea: During the ATL events, James eventually becomes a replacement for Armstrong. Neil comes down with a bad case of the flu or breaks his leg a week or two before launch and James fills in for him. Neil's sad, of course, but gets to fly on some later lunar landing mission.

The Undead Martyr said:
America or imperial Germany go socialist and decide to appoint a non white person to prove the superiority of glorious space communism.
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Would it be fully automated and luxurious ? :p

For some reason, I'd expect a more wanked post-war France, possibly in an earlier integrated Europe could maybe be one of the most plausible candidates. The French in the 20th century always struck me as fairly progressive on integrating citizens with African ancestry into various institutions (though there were obviously also problems and cases of prejudice). Using a French-centric ATL-EU Moonshot as a secondary promotion tool for reaffirming a positive "look, France and Europe value people with non-European roots equally" image. Maybe that could also be used to calm down some post-colonial tensions with at least some post-colonial African or Caribbean countries.
 
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Zheng He

Petike said:
Nice ! :) Was there any point in OTL when he contemplated joining NASA's early AC ? We could go from there.

Idea: During the ATL events, James eventually becomes a replacement for Armstrong. Neil comes down with a bad case of the flu or breaks his leg a week or two before launch and James fills in for him. Neil's sad, of course, but gets to fly on some later lunar landing mission.
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I haven't the slightest idea, although he was never a test pilot and going the test pilot route is generally the key to becoming an astronaut (even today).

James rose quickly in command positions in TAC in the 1950s and 1960s so this would have required different career decisions on his part.
 
Petike

Petike

Zheng He said:
I haven't the slightest idea, although he was never a test pilot and going the test pilot route is generally the key to becoming an astronaut (even today).

James rose quickly in command positions in TAC in the 1950s and 1960s so this would have required different career decisions on his part.
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Makes sense !
 
Petike

Petike

Zheng He said:
This guy is your best bet, he was actually selected for astronaut training in the early 1960s (same time as Armstrong) but due to the racism of the time,: it turned out to be a dead end for him:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Dwight
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Which brings me to a crucial question: How big a hurdle will prejudice/racism be in this case ? The 1960s were a time of both the Civil Rights movement in the US, as well as of efforts to still keep Afro-Americans playing second fiddle in many areas. Maybe if the voices underestimating Afro-Americans are weaker in a particular ATL close to OTL, you could get some early Afro-American members of the AC, compared to OTL.
 

Zheng He

Petike said:
Which brings me to a crucial question: How big a hurdle will prejudice/racism be in this case ? The 1960s were a time of both the Civil Rights movement in the US, as well as of efforts to still keep Afro-Americans playing second fiddle in many areas. Maybe if the voices underestimating Afro-Americans are weaker in a particular ATL close to OTL, you could get some early Afro-American members of the AC, compared to OTL.
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Prejudice and racism are huge hurdles. Maybe it's decided that putting an African American astronaut on the first moon landing will help improve race relations on the county. Some will view it as a cheap PR stunt (to a certain extent it is), some will not want to accept it, but many will be inspired by it and embrace it.
 

JamesBond88

Zheng He said:
Prejudice and racism are huge hurdles. Maybe it's decided that putting an African American astronaut on the first moon landing will help improve race relations on the county. Some will view it as a cheap PR stunt (to a certain extent it is), some will not want to accept it, but many will be inspired by it and embrace it.
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It is my understanding that Ed Dwight was selected for the astronaut program precisely for the reason you mentioned. It was only after Kennedy was assassinated, his administration being the primary voice pushing for Dwight, that he was washed out for either being black, or under qualified, depending on who you listen to.
 

Zheng He

JamesBond88 said:
It is my understanding that Ed Dwight was selected for the astronaut program precisely for the reason you mentioned. It was only after Kennedy was assassinated, his administration being the primary voice pushing for Dwight, that he was washed out for either being black, or under qualified, depending on who you listen to.
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That's my understanding as well.
 

FasterThanRaito

If the TL is such that France is the leading space power, then this becomes easy.
As long as you mean African as in "from geographic Africa" instead of just "dark skin".
 
ennobee

ennobee

For the US:
Either delay the space race until the 1990's or have the Civil Rights Movement start 30 years earlier. (Third alternative would be no 'Jim Crow' backlash against African Americans in the early 1900's and emancipation would steadily move forward from 1867 on to the point that in 1940 African-American fighter pilots were as common as Italian-American or Irish-American ones.

For France or the UK:
Both countries have had their dealing with racism as well, but both were also pretty good in promoting an exceptionally skilled 'colored' soldier, pilot or other figure in the public eye to the rank of 'national hero' up to the point that they actively prefer him over his white colleagues for reason of propaganda when it comes to who will be the commander of the first moonshot. (Of course, in case of France I would not put it past them that the astronaut will also be a She. They have a history of record-breaking female race pilots already) So the main challenge will be to get enough talented non-white citizens into flight school in the late 1930's in order to have at least one of them be famous enough by the 1960's to be offered astronaut training just on account of them passing the necessary physicals and being nice to the press.
 
ennobee

ennobee

BMN said:
If the TL is such that France is the leading space power, then this becomes easy.
As long as you mean African as in "from geographic Africa" instead of just "dark skin".
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the UK leading the space race could do the same thing. OTL there were already a few famous RAF pilots from South Africa. One of them could make it into astronaut school and beat out the Australian and Canadian candidate to be appointed mission commander on the moon flight
 
Mad Bad Rabbit

Mad Bad Rabbit

Have WWII drag on a lot longer (Failed Normandy invasion, massive Manhattan project overruns, Operation Downfall carried out, etc.)
The Air Force ends up fully integrated and open to both genders due to pilot shortages from combat losses.
The Space Race is even more rushed and aggressive, when nuclear weapons suddenly become available in the late 1950s.

The candidate chosen for the first Moon landing is a woman of color, not just because she's the best test pilot, but because she is shorter and lighter than her rival male pilots.
 

baldipaul

ennobee said:
the UK leading the space race could do the same thing. OTL there were already a few famous RAF pilots from South Africa. One of them could make it into astronaut school and beat out the Australian and Canadian candidate to be appointed mission commander on the moon flight
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By the end of WW2 there were quite a lot of Black Caribbean RAF Officers up to Wing Commander level in the UK. Take it from there. There’s a film coming out about one of them this year called Hero, about Squadron Leader Ulric Cross DSO DFC. He was also used in propaganda films shown in the cinema, one of which is on YouTube as West Indies calling 1943. (Can’t link as on my phone).
 
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