Trailblazing Astronaut Mae Jemison
As part of Black History Month, the Science Centre thought you might like to read about the extraordinary Mae Jemison, who was not only a doctor and engineer, but also an astronaut! In fact, she was the very first African American woman to travel to space. Let us tell you more about this exceptional woman!
A Woman of Many Talents
Mae Jemison was born in 1956 in Decatur, Alabama. A few years later, her family moved to Chicago. From a very young age, Mae dedicated herself to her fascination for science and her love of dance. It wasn’t long until she was dreaming about traveling to space one day, inspired namely by the science fiction television series Star Trek, particularly the role of Lieutenant Uhura played by the African American actress Nichelle Nichols.
Driven by her dream of space travel and her thirst for knowledge, she was 16 years old when she was admitted to Stanford University. Despite her extraordinary intellectual abilities, she faced discrimination as she was among the university’s few African American students. Between 1973 and 1977, she earned herself a joint bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and African American studies.
With her degrees in hand, she entered medical school in 1977 at Cornell University and graduated in 1981. After practising medicine for a short time in the US, she joined the Peace Corps in 1983 and served as medical officer in Africa until 1985. The Peace Corps is an independent American government agency whose mission is to promote world peace and solidarity, particularly in developing countries.
Mae had already proven herself a trailblazer by now, but this ambitious woman had her sights on yet another goal…
The First African American Women in Space
Mae applied to become a NASA astronaut in 1983, but she would have to wait. In 1985, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just minutes after its launch which forced NASA to stop recruiting new astronauts for some time. But this didn’t stop Mae! She reapplied in 1987 and was ultimately selected from a pool of more than 2,000 candidates.
A year later, she completed the astronaut training program and started working on research projects at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. She was later assigned to the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory in Texas, where NASA space shuttle equipment was integrated and tested.
Then, in 1989, she was assigned her first space mission, and by 1992 she left Earth aboard the space shuttle Endeavour making her the first African American woman to travel to space.
Paving the Way to the Future
After completing her work with NASA in 1993, Mae devoted much of her career to promoting science and technology. She taught at the university level and founded (and directed) organizations dedicated to popularizing science and making it more accessible. Mae Jemison is truly a trailblazer. She has assuredly helped pave the way for future generations.
Her achievements have earned her a place in the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the International Space Hall of Fame and the Texas Science Hall of Fame.
Today, she invests herself in a lifetime project known as 100 Year Starship whose mission is to make the capability of human travel beyond our solar system a reality by 2112.
Does the spirited determination of Mae Jemison inspire you? Would you like to meet other women like her? Join us at the Women and Girls of Science event on Saturday, February 10! Come explore the fascinating careers of real women of science working in the fields of biology, information technology, ecology… and more!
