Mae Jemison Became the First African American Woman to Fly in Space on This Day in 1992

The multi-hyphenate from Alabama made history 30 years ago for being the first Black woman to travel into space.

What once was a dream to travel to space became a reality for Alabama native Mae Carol Jemison, who was born on October 17, 1956 and was inspired by Black actress Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura on the famous TV show about intergalactic adventures, "Star Trek." As a young child, Jemison moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois, and then to California to attend Stanford University, where she was one of a handful of African American students in her class.

In school, Jemison demonstrated leadership, serving as the president of the Black Student Union and, being an avid dancer, choreographing a production of "Out of the Shadows," about the African American experience. According to the National Women's History Museum, Jemison earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in African and African-American studies, graduating in 1977. But it wasn't until later on that she would become the first African American woman to fly in space.

Mae Jemison's Many Accomplishments

Upon graduating from Stanford University in California, the young Jemison went on to study at Cornell Medical School, where she continued to demonstrate her leadership skills. She traveled to Cuba to lead a study for the American Medical Student Association and served at a Cambodian refugee camp in Thailand. Jemison finished her medical studies in 1981, earning her Doctorate in Medicine.

Jemison's medical career began when she interned at Los Angeles County Medical Center and moved on to practice general medicine. Because she was fluent in Russian, Japanese, and Swahili, she served as a medical officer after joining the Peace Corps in 1983.

Inspiration struck Jemison when physicist and astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space in 1983. The young doctor then applied to the astronaut program at NASA two years later in 1985, but the agency had stopped accepting applicants following the Challenger explosion in 1986.

A year later, Jemison applied again and was one of the 15 individuals chosen out of more than 2,000 applicants. She became part of the Astronaut Group 12, the first group chosen following the Challenger explosion of 1986.

Mae Jemison's Mission in Space

After her astronaut training, Jemison was sent on the space shuttle Endeavor with six other astronauts and became the first African American woman to fly in space on September 12, 1992. The shuttle traveled 126 orbits around the Earth, Space.com reported.

Jemison was tasked to be the mission specialist on board the Endeavor as it conducted mission STS-47, where she was responsible for co-investigating two bone cell research experiments, which was one of 43 scientific investigations performed on the spacecraft. While this was her one and only trip to space, Jemison logged up to 190 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds in space.

Jemison's contributions to the science and technology space did not end when she left NASA in 1993, as she went on to teach at Dartmouth College and founded an international space camp and a technology consulting firm called Jemison Group, AL.com reported. She continues to advocate for science and now leads the 100-Year Starship program under the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, which aims to elevate human space travel and bring astronauts to another star in the near future.