About Mae Jemison |
Astronaut and physician Mae Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. Jamison was the youngest child of Charlie Jemison, a roofer and carpenter, and Dorothy Jemison, an elementary school teacher. Her sister, Ada Jemison Bullock, became a child psychiatrist, and her brother, Charles Jemison, is a real estate broker. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, when Jemison was 3 years old to take advantage of better educational opportunities there, and it is that city that she calls her hometown.
Throughout her early school years, Jemison's parents were supportive and encouraging of her talents and abilities, and she spent a considerable amount of time in her school library reading about all aspects of science, especially astronomy.
During her time at Morgan Park High School, she became convinced she wanted to pursue a career in making health care items, and when she graduated in 1973 as a consistent honor student, she entered Stanford University on a National Achievement Scholarship. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the university in 1977.
In October of that year, she applied for admission to NASA's astronaut training program. Once chosen for the NASA program on June 4, 1987, she became the first African-American woman to be admitted into the program. After more than a year of training, she became the first African-American female astronaut, earning the title of science mission specialist—a job that would make her responsible for conducting crew-related scientific experiments on the space shuttle. When Jemison finally flew into space on September 12, 1992, with six other astronauts aboard the Endeavour on mission STS47, she became the first African-American woman in space. During her eight days in space, she conducted experiments on weightlessness and motion sickness on the crew and herself. In all, she spent more than 190 hours in space before returning to Earth on September 20, 1992. Following her historic flight, Jemison noted that society should recognize how much both women and members of other minority groups can contribute if given the opportunity.