Washington, D.C
Washington, DC’s Renowned Astronaut, Col. Frederick D. Gregory
Frederick Drew Gregory, is the first astronaut born, reared, and educated in the nation’s capital, Washington, DC, which is also home to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He is a veteran of three space shuttle missions and the first African American to pilot and command a mission in space. He is also the first African American to rise to the second-highest NASA leadership position, Deputy Administrator.
Gregory’s story is generationally entwined with the history of the District of Columbia (DC). In an era of profound racism and segregation, Gregory’s family were respected members of Washington’s influential Black community. When he was born in 1941, members of his family already were making history, and Gregory followed suit in his own time.
NASA portrait of Frederick Gregory.
Gregory’s uncle, Dr. Charles R. Drew, became famous for his medical research and innovation during World War II. His father, Francis Anderson Gregory, was locally prominent as assistant superintendent of DC Public Schools for many years and served as the first Black president of the Public Library’s Board of Trustees; the branch library in the Fort Davis neighborhood where the Gregory family lived is named in his honor. His mother, Nora Drew Gregory, a graduate of Dunbar High School, had a thirty-year career as a teacher in Washington’s elementary schools and led the library board after her husband. Her niece—Gregory’s cousin—Charlene Drew Jarvis served on the DC Council for more than two decades.
Gregory remembers his father taking him to Andrews Air Force Base for air shows and car races when he was a child; that was his earliest exposure to aviation. He also knew several Tuskegee Airmen who were friends of his father and often visited the Gregory’s home, when he was too young to understand their historical significance but enjoyed their tales of flying. As a teenager, he made the connection between flying and the military and decided he wanted to be an aeronautical engineer and military aviator.
Gregory’s life became illustrious after he graduated from Anacostia High School—Washington’s schools were not yet integrated, but Gregory was active in an integrated Boy Scout troop. Nominated by civil rights activist and member of Congress Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Gregory attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he was the only Black cadet in his class and one of very few African Americans at the academy. He graduated with distinction and a degree in military engineering in 1964 and was commissioned as an officer into the Air Force.
When Gregory joined the Air Force, he first flew helicopters and then fighter aircraft, including the F-4 Phantom. He served in Vietnam, where he flew 550 combat rescue missions, and returned to enter the Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent, Maryland. While serving as an engineering and research test pilot for both the Air Force and NASA, he earned a master’s degree in information systems from George Washington University, in his hometown. During his career, he logged 7,000 hours in more than 50 aircraft.
In 1978, NASA introduced Gregory as a pilot among the first new astronauts—the “TFNG” or “thirty-five new guys”—selected for the space shuttle era. His astronaut class included two more African Americans, scientists Guion Bluford and Ronald McNair; the three soon became NASA’s first African American astronauts to go to space. Among his other classmates were the first six women selected to join the astronaut corps and the first Asian American in space. The group received extraordinary media attention as NASA’s first examples of a more diverse astronaut corps. Jet and Ebony magazines featured the African Americans with pride.
Ronald McNair, Guy Bluford, and Fred Gregory, three of NASA’s first Black astronauts from the 1978 astronaut class. March 1978 cover of Jet Magazine featuring McNair, Bluford, and Gregory.
Gregory flew on three space shuttle missions. The first, in 1985, was STS 51-B, a Spacelab science mission on Challenger, for which he was the pilot, the first African American in that role. He flew again in 1989, this time as commander of STS-33 on Discovery, for a classified Department of Defense mission. On this mission, Gregory became the first African American to command a spaceflight. His next mission as commander, STS-44 in 1991 on Atlantis, was also for the Department of Defense. Gregory claims he was so focused on his missions that he never really thought about being the first Black pilot or commander, but other people made it a mark of distinction.
After his last flight, Gregory transferred to NASA Headquarters in Washington to serve as Associate Administrator for the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and then as Associate Administrator for the Office of Space Flight. In 2002, he became NASA’s Deputy Administrator, second in command to the Administrator during the difficult time of the 2003 Columbia tragedy and its aftermath. Once again, he was the first African American in the agency’s senior leadership, a position he held until 2005. He also served briefly as acting NASA Administrator in early 2005, after Sean O’Keefe left and before Mike Griffin was sworn in. His NASA career was equally balanced between years in Texas and back home in Washington, DC.
Gregory has received many military and NASA medals and awards, as well as education and civic honors. Like his father’s legacy was honored with a named library, Gregory has been honored with a building bearing his name, Gregory Hall at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
After he logged 455 hours in space, spent his military career in Vietnam and around the country and his active astronaut years in Texas, Gregory came home to Washington for his final stint at NASA and his retirement. This renowned Washingtonian remains active as a speaker, advisor, and consultant.
Washington, D.C
Measles exposure alert issued for DC after infected people visit several public places
WASHINGTON (7News) — The D.C. Department of Health is investigating multiple confirmed measles cases after infected individuals visited several locations across the District while contagious.
Health officials are working identify and notify people who may have been exposed and urge anyone who was at the listed locations during the specified times to review their vaccination status and monitor for symptoms.
SEE ALSO | Measles exposure possible at stores, restaurants in Fairfax County, Virginia
DC Health says exposures may have occurred at the following locations:
- Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception | Wednesday, Jan. 21 | 3:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
- National March for Life Rally and Concert | Friday, Jan. 23. | 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- Catholic University of America, Garvey Hall | Saturday, Jan. 24 (Noon – 3 p.m.) & Sunday, Jan. 25 (Noon – 3 p.m.)
- Catholic University of America, Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center | Saturday, Jan. 24 (6 p.m. – 9 p.m.) & Sunday, Jan. 25 (6 p.m. – 9 p.m.)
- Catholic University of America, St. Vincent de Paul Chapel | Saturday, Jan. 25 | 9 p.m. – midnight
- Metro Rail (Red and Yellow Lines) | Monday, Jan. 26 (Various times between 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. & Tuesday, Jan. 27 (1:15 p.m.-3:30 p.m.)
- Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport | Monday, Jan. 26 | 12:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
- Union Station Amtrak Concourse | Tuesday, Jan. 27 | 1:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
- Amtrak Northeast Regional Train 176 (northbound) | Tuesday, Jan. 27 | 4:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
- Children’s National Medical Center Emergency Department | Monday, Feb. 2 | 11:15 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
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DC Health says people who were at the listed locations and are not immune should contact their healthcare provider or DC Health at 844-493-2652 for guidance. More tips can be found here.
Washington, D.C
Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump to meet in DC to discuss Iran talks | The Jerusalem Post
“The Prime Minister believes that any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis,” the PMO stated.
Trump stated that the talks, which took place on Friday in Muscat, Oman, were “very good” and that US and Iranian officials are “going to meet again early next week,” while speaking with reporters on Air Force One.
“They want to make a deal,” Trump said of Iran, adding that, regardless of other terms that may be included in a potential future deal, Iran will be allowed “no nuclear weapons.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was present for the Omani-mediated discussion, asserted that Iran’s ballistic missile programs “cannot be negotiated, neither now nor in the future,” in a Saturday interview with Qatari state-run news agency Al-Jazeera.
In a separate speech delivered at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Araghchi decried what he alleged was “inequality” in the way Israeli arms programs are treated.
Araghchi claimed that “Israel is free to expand its military arsenal without limits, including weapons of mass destruction that remain outside any inspection regime” while other nations, such as Iran, are “demanded to disarm.”
He accused Israel of being an “expansionist project” that “permanently enjoys the upper hand” while requiring “that neighboring countries be weakened militarily, technologically, economically, and socially.”
Tobias Holcman contributed to this report.
Washington, D.C
Hegseth says National Guard members shot in DC ambush by Afghan national will receive Purple Heart
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Friday that two West Virginia National Guard members — Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe — who were shot in an ambush-style attack near the White House late last year, will receive the Purple Heart.
Calling the Nov. 26 incident “a terrible thing” and saying the troops were “attacked by a radical,” Hegseth made the announcement while speaking at a National Guard reenlistment ceremony at the Washington Monument, where he administered the oath of enlistment to more than 100 Guardsmen from nine states serving in Washington, D.C.
“And we had a terrible thing happen a number of months ago,” Hegseth said. “Andrew Wolfe, Sarah Beckstrom, one lost, one recovered, thank God, in miraculous ways. Both soon to be Purple Heart recipients because they were attacked by a radical.”
The remarks mark the first public confirmation from Hegseth that the service members will receive the Purple Heart, one of the nation’s oldest military decorations, awarded to those killed or wounded by enemy action.
AFGHAN NATIONAL ACCUSED IN DC NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTING PLEADS NOT GUILTY, PROSECUTORS MAY SEEK DEATH PENALTY
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth hosts a reenlistment ceremony for National Guard members at the Washington Monument, Friday, in Washington, D.C. (DoW Photo/U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza)
The Purple Heart traces its origins to the American Revolution, when George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit in 1782, to recognize enlisted soldiers wounded or killed in service. The modern Purple Heart was revived in 1932, and is awarded in the name of the president to U.S. service members wounded or killed by enemy action.
Beckstrom, 20, and Wolfe, 24, were shot just blocks from the White House in what officials described as an ambush-style attack.
Beckstrom died a day after the shooting. Wolfe was seriously wounded and continues to recover.
BONDI DESCRIBES WOUNDED NATIONAL GUARDSMAN AS A ‘MIRACLE,’ SAYS ‘HE’S ABLE TO OPEN BOTH EYES’
National Guard Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom was killed in a shooting incident, Nov. 26, in Washington D.C. (Department of Justice)
The accused gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, faces nine charges related to the shooting, including first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed. He has pleaded not guilty.
In a statement posted on X, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey thanked Hegseth for the announcement and said the recognition was long overdue.
“I thank Secretary @PeteHegseth for announcing that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe will soon receive the Purple Heart, an honor that reflects their courage and sacrifice in defense of our nation,” Morrisey wrote.
Morrisey said he formally requested the Purple Heart awards Dec. 19, adding that the announcement “brings long-overdue honor to their service, offers meaning and reassurance to their families, and stands as a solemn reminder that West Virginia will never forget those who sacrifice in defense of others.”
Hegseth’s remarks Friday came during a ceremony honoring the National Guard’s ongoing security mission in the nation’s capital.
According to a War Department news release, more than 100 Guardsmen from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia reenlisted Friday as part of the mission.
REP BRIAN MAST: CONGRESS HAS THE PERFECT WAY TO HONOR OUR NATION’S FALLEN HEROES
National Guard Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was wounded in a shooting incident, Nov. 26, in Washington D.C. (Department of Justice)
Those troops are among more than 2,600 National Guard members currently deployed in Washington at the direction of President Donald Trump in support of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established in August 2025 after the president declared a crime emergency in the city.
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Addressing the Guardsmen, Hegseth described their service in Washington as “front lines” duty.
“This is not an easy assignment. It’s the real deal. It’s front lines,” he said. “You’ve done it, and you’ve done well.”
The Army could not immediately provide comment after being reached by Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this story.
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