Jan 28th marks 28  year since the space shuttle Challenger exploded in a tragic accident only 73 seconds after lift off. Ellison Onizuka was on board the Challenger and perished with the other astronauts. He was the first Asian American astronaut and the first Asian American to go into outer space.

Onizuka’s legacy lives on after his death, and he has been memorilized in several ways by the Asian American community. In his birth place of Hawaii there is the Onizuka Village Family Housing, The Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center, and The Onizuka Center for International Astronomy. Little Tokyo in Los Angeles has a street dedicated in his name, as well as a scale replica of the Challenger as a memorial. Onizuka paved the way for future Asian American Astronauts and was clearly a much loved member of his community.

Astronaut Onizuka eats with chopsticks white on the mid deck

Ellison Onizuka