Did you ever want to be an astronaut as a kid? 

If you love learning about space and missions for NASA, then you should know who Mae Jemison is.

Mae Jemison was the first African American Woman to travel into space, and she put in years of hard and tremendous work to make history.

Mae was born in Decatur, Alabama, in 1956. Her family moved when she was little, and she grew up in Chicago, Illinois, with her parents and two siblings. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a maintenance supervisor.

Growing up, Mae had an interest in science early on. She’d read books about science and school and did well in her science classes. She graduated high school as an honor student in 1973 and attended Stanford University on a scholarship.

As one of few Black students in her classes, Mae often faced racial discrimination on campus. But she continued to work hard and did extracurriculars like serving as head of the Black Student Union. She also participated in theatrical and dance productions on campus.

Mae graduated from Stanford with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1977 and then enrolled in the Cornell University Medical College. She received her Doctorate in Medicine from the school in 1981 and began practicing medicine. 

Mae had learned how to speak multiple languages and therefore decided to join the Peace Corps in 1983. For two years, she served as a medical officer in Africa.

When Mae returned to the United States in 1985, she decided to make a sudden career change and follow a dream she had since she was little. She wanted to become an astronaut. That year, she applied to NASA’s astronaut training program.

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After the Space Shuttle Challenger tragically exploded in 1986, NASA took a break from accepting applicants into the program. So, Mae tried again in 1987 and was one of 15 people chosen for the program out of around 2,000 applicants.

Mae began her training at NASA and worked on projects at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory. In 1989, she received her first mission and was chosen to join the STS-47 crew as a Mission Specialist, which made her responsible for conducting scientific experiments on a space mission.

On September 12, 1992, Mae became the first African American Woman to go to space as she and six other astronauts rode on the Endeavour on mission STS47.

They were in space for eight days, and Mae conducted several experiments on motion sickness, frog fertilization in space, weightlessness in space, etc. 

Following her historic trip, Mae started advocating for men and women to have equal opportunities as astronauts. She worked for NASA as an astronaut for a total of six years and left in 1993. She began teaching environmental studies at Dartmouth College and became a public speaker.

Mae also founded the Jemison Group, a technology consulting firm that focuses on the design of science and engineering projects.

Recently, Mae has been leading a non-profit educational foundation called the 100 Year Starship, which is funded by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Mae is a spectacular woman who paved the way for many other women in STEM.

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