First held in 2017 on the anniversary of Alan Shepard's 1961 flight, National Astronaut Day added music-plaque awards in 2024 for astronauts and those inspiring the next ones
Baxter and Dr. Ronald Gamble at the Stellar Dreams kickoff on February 19, 2024. The award announcement ran this photo. Photo: Buffalo State University
On May 3, 2024, uniphi space agency named Stellar Dreams, the telescope program of The Science Haven, a Gold Award winner in its first Astronaut Rock Star Awards. The awards marked National Astronaut Day on Sunday, May 5. Dr. Raven Baxter founded the Haven and leads it as executive director.
Gold Awards go to students, charities and groups working to advance science, technology, engineering, arts and math education related to space. The honor recognizes efforts "nurturing the next gen of scientists, engineers, innovators and explorers," according to uniphi's list of winners. The announcement ran a photo from the program's Buffalo kickoff in February, where 27 students received telescopes.
Spring 2024 was busy for spaceflight. On February 22, Intuitive Machines' Odysseus made the first U.S. Moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. On April 8, a total solar eclipse crossed North America, passing through 13 states from Texas to Maine, including New York.
Five winners were named. The Diamond Award went to Alan Shepard, posthumously, with astronaut Wendy Lawrence named to present it to his daughter, Laura Shepard-Churchley. Former NASA astronaut Jack D. Fischer of Intuitive Machines won the Platinum Award for the Odysseus landing, with the band O.A.R. named to present it. Students Yuridia Sanchez of Nogales High School in Arizona and Sophia Crowder, founder of ITGirls, also won Gold. The awards are space-themed music plaques modeled on MTV's Moonman.
Baxter and Gamble at a table of gift bags tagged with students' names at the Stellar Dreams kickoff, February 19, 2024. Photo: Buffalo State University
In a video uniphi released with the award, made from footage of the Buffalo kickoff, Baxter calls the Haven "a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to increasing scientific access to all."
"Our goal is to make science accessible to those populations that are traditionally missed by those traditional mainstream science initiatives," she says. "We want to make sure that everyone has a chance to be a scientist."
"In 2023, The Science Haven became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and we hit the ground running with a very ambitious goal," she says in the video. That goal was "giving 100 telescopes to 100 kids across America." She describes the Haven as "a community that's greater than me." Stellar Dreams has since sent more than 100 telescopes to students in more than 15 states.
uniphi space agency created National Astronaut Day and first held it in 2017. Five astronauts, including Brian Duffy and Susan Helms, joined the announcement of the annual observance. The date marks Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 flight on May 5, 1961. He became the first American in space on a flight of about 15 minutes that reached 116 miles, according to the day's website.
The agency is a division of uniphigood, LLC, a woman-owned company Annie Balliro founded in 2009. "This year, we are thrilled to launch the inaugural Astronaut Rock Star Awards, a new cornerstone for National Astronaut Day moving forward," Balliro said in the release.
Baxter is a molecular biologist and science communicator. She holds a Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo, where her research focused on science communication.
The award video and the full announcement are online.
Cohort Sistas presented Dr. Raven Baxter with its Living Legacy Award and heard her keynote at the doctoral support network's fifth anniversary gala in Washington on March 7, 2026.
Graduate Women in Science named Dr. Raven Baxter an honorary member with its 2023 Science Communication Award, a category the society added after 2020.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture released a career conversation with Dr. Raven Baxter, whose interviewer noted she is featured in the museum's new Afrofuturism exhibition.
