Ellison Onizuka

Uncommon card · No. 121957

Ellison Shoji Onizuka (Japanese: エリソン・ショージ・オニヅカ, 鬼塚 承次, Hepburn: Onizuka Shōji; June 24, 1946 – January 28, 1986) was an American astronaut, engineer, and U.S. Air Force flight test engineer from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS-51-L. Onizuka was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese ancestry to reach space.

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