Ellison Onizuka

Ellison Shoji Onizuka was an American astronaut from Kealakekua, Hawaii, who successfully flew into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS51C. He died in the destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger, on which he was serving as Mission Specialist for mission STS51L. He was the first Asian American to reach space, and the first person of Japanese ancestry to reach space.

Onizuka Air Force Station in Sunnyvale, California, Onizuka Village family housing on Hickam Air Force Base and the Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center at Kona International Airport in the Kona district of Hawai i island where he was born and raised, are dedicated to him.

Source: Wikipedia