Ellison Shoji Onizuka was an American astronaut and engineer from Kealakekua, Hawaii.
He successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-51-C.
Onizuka later died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, 73 seconds after launch.
He was the first Asian American and the first person of Japanese ancestry to reach space.
He was a member of NASA’s Astronaut Class of 1978.
