In celebration of Women’s History Month, The Coyote Caller is recognizing women from around the world who have made a contribution to society. Today, we recognize Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space.
Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. Her family moved to Chicago, Illinois a few years later. She loved science as a child and decided she wanted to be a scientist when she grew up. She did very well in school and entered high school at age 12. After graduating high school at 16, she attended Stanford University in California.
After graduating from Stanford with double degrees in chemical engineering and African-American Studies, in 1977. She next attended Cornell University, earning a medical degree in 1981.
She joined the Peace Corps for two years as a medical officer and then opened her own medical practice. But when Sally Ride became the first American woman in space, she decided to apply to be an astronaut with NASA. However, because of the Challenger explosion, NASA postponed the shuttle program until 1987.
She was one of 15 out of over 2,000 applicants chosen for the shuttle program. She went through rigorous training. As a result, she traveled to space on her first shuttle mission in 1992 aboard the space shuttle Endeavor. She became the first African-American woman in space.
Since then, she has accomplished many things. Currently, she serves as the leader of the 100-Year Starship Project, an initiative to ensure human space travel to another star within the next 100 years. Jemison has received many awards and has been given 14 honorary doctorate degrees from many universities.
Jemison’s accomplishments show that women, and especially African-American women, can succeed in the field of space.
