Mae C. Jemison: The first African American woman in space

Becoming an astronaut is challenging, yet one woman defied the odds to become the first African American woman in space.

Early life accomplishments

Born in the 1950s, Mae C. Jemison refused to let anything stop her from becoming one of the most accomplished African American women in history.

She was born in Decatur, Ala. but grew up in Chicago, and from a very early age, she knew she wanted to study science.

She worked hard and graduated from high school at just 16, then headed across the country to attend Stanford University.

As one of the few African Americans in her class, she faced discrimination from both students and teachers, yet she earned two degrees in four years—chemical engineering and African American studies.

Jemison didn’t begin her career in space; she first attended Cornell Medical School, where she earned her medical degree and practiced general medicine.

Her talents also didn’t stop in science. Jemison is fluent in Japanese, Russian and Swahili. She used this and her medical studies to her advantage and joined the Peace Corps in 1983 to help people in Africa for two years.

On to space

After serving in the Peace Corps, Jemison opened a private medical practice, but before long she set her sights on a long-held dream: going to space.

Jemison applied for the astronaut program at NASA in 1985. Unfortunately, NASA stopped accepting applications after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986.

In 1987, Jemison reapplied and was chosen as one of 15 out of 2,000 applicants. Nichelle Nichols—Uhura from the original Star Trek—recruited her, and as a longtime fan, Jemison later guest-starred in an episode of the series.

In Sept. 1992, she joined six other astronauts on the Endeavor for eight days, making her the first African American woman in space. On her mission, she made 127 orbits around the Earth.

Mae C. Jemison on board the Endeavour in 1992. (Photo by NASA)

After NASA

Jemison left NASA the year after she went to space and accomplished many more things.

She started her own consulting company, became a professor at Cornell, launched the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries, created an international space camp for teens and much more.

She currently leads 100 Year Starship through DARPA, United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which works to ensure humans will travel to another star in the next 100 years.

With all her accomplishments, it’s no surprise Jemison was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the National Medical Association Hall of Fame and the Texas Science Hall of Fame.

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