Taking Flight: 7 Black Female Astronauts and Aviators Who Changed History
Yvonne Cagle
Yvonne Cagle is the product of Air Force parents, which may explain her inclination towards flying. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from San Francisco State University, and a doctor of medicine degree from the University of Washington, she was certified in Aerospace Medicine at Brooks Air Force Base in 1988. In 1995, the Federal Aviation Administration certified Cagle as a senior aviation medical examiner. Armed with these credentials, as well as an impressive background flying planes and serving in the Air Force during the Gulf War, she applied to NASA in 1996, and was one of 25 candidates accepted out of 2,500 applicants. While Cagle has not been in space, she has been an occupational medicine physician at the Johnson Space Center.
