This incredible woman is making history as the first Black astronaut to board the International Space Station

It may be only a few days into 2017, but history has already been made! Astronaut Jeanette Epps has become the first Black American astronaut to board the International Space Station — how awesome is that?

Jeanette’s accomplishment is nothing to sneeze at, but Black women have been making strides in space for a while.

Other African American astronauts have been into space officially, (like Mae Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut ever with the space shuttle Endeavor) though Jeanette will be the first with ISS.

She’ll also be the 13th woman to be aboard the ISS as a crew member since the space station’s founding.

This is especially interesting timing, as the country is getting swept up by the magic of Hidden Figures, a film that highlights the role that Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson — three Black women working with NASA — played in launching John Glenn into space.

2016 may not have been the best year, but it looks like 2017 is off to a much better start. Black women in space are having a moment, and it’s time that the country take notice.