Blacks In Space: Robert Curbeam Jr.

Along with Joan Higginbothan, Mr. Curbeam Jr. will be aboard Space Shuttle Discovery next week when it goes to the International Space Station. Born in Baltimore, he is also a captain in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Curbeam Jr. earned an aerospace engineering degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, and a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

He is a veteran of two space flights (1997, 2001), and has logged over 593 hours in space. Aong with Christer Fuglesang, a Swede who works with the European Space Agency, Mr. Curbeam is scheduled to make the first of the mission's three spacewalks. Their job will be to install the truss.