Mae Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) is an Americanengineer,physician, and formerNASA astronaut. She became the firstAfrican-American woman to travel into space when she served as amission specialist aboard theSpace ShuttleEndeavour in 1992. Jemison joined NASA'sastronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for theSTS-47 mission, during which theEndeavour orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992.
Mae Carol Jemison was born inDecatur, Alabama, on October 17, 1956,[1][2] the youngest of three children of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy Jemison (née Green).[3] Her father was a maintenance supervisor for a charity organization, and her mother worked most of her career as an elementary school teacher of English and math at the Ludwig van Beethoven Elementary School inChicago,Illinois.[4][5] The family first lived inWoodlawn and later theMorgan Park neighborhoods.[6] Jemison knew from a young age that she wanted to study science and someday go into space.[7] The television showStar Trek and, in particular, African-American actressNichelle Nichols' portrayal of LieutenantUhura further stoked her interest in space.[8][9][10]
Jemison enjoyed studying nature andhuman physiology, using her observations to learn more about science. Although her mother encouraged her curiosity[8] and both her parents were supportive of her interest in science, she did not always see the same support from her teachers.[11] When Jemison told a kindergarten teacher she wanted to be a scientist when she grew up, the teacher assumed she meant she wanted to be a nurse.[12] Seeing a lack of female astronauts during theApollo missions also frustrated Jemison. She later recalled, "everybody was thrilled about space, but I remember being really really irritated that there were no women astronauts."[7]
Jemison began studying ballet at the age of 8 or 9 and entered high school at 12 years old, where she joined the cheerleading team and the Modern Dance Club.[13][14] Jemison had a great love for dance from a young age. She learned several styles of dance, includingAfrican andJapanese, as well asballet,jazz, andmodern dance. As a child, Jemison had aspirations of becoming a professional dancer.[15] At the age of 14, she auditioned for the leading role of Maria inWest Side Story. She did not get the leading role but was selected as a background dancer.[16]
After graduating from Chicago'sMorgan Park High School in 1973,[12] Jemison enteredStanford University at the age of 16.[8] Although she was young to be leaving home for college, Jemison later said it did not faze her because she was "naive and stubborn enough".[8] There were very few other African-American students in Jemison's classes and she continued to experience discrimination from her teachers.[17] In an interview withThe Des Moines Register in 2008, Jemison said that it was difficult to go to Stanford at 16 but that her youthful arrogance may have helped her;[18] she asserted that some arrogance is necessary for women and minorities to be successful in a white male dominated society.[18]
At Stanford, Jemison served as head of theBlack Students Union.[11] She alsochoreographed a musical and dance production calledOut of the Shadows.[19] During her senior year in college, she struggled with the choice between going to medical school or pursuing a career as a professional dancer after graduation;[20] she graduated from Stanford in 1977, receiving aB.S. degree inchemical engineering.[1][8] andB.A. degree inAfrican andAfrican-American studies.[21] While at Stanford, she also pursued studies related to her childhood interest in space and first considered applying to NASA.[22]
Jemison joined the staff of thePeace Corps in 1983 and served as a medical officer until 1985. She was responsible for the health of Peace Corps volunteers serving inLiberia andSierra Leone.[20][1] Jemison supervised the Peace Corps' pharmacy, laboratory, medical staff as well as providing medical care, writing self-care manuals, and developing and implementing guidelines for health and safety issues. She also worked with theCenters for Disease Control helping with research for various vaccines.[24]
Mae Jemison being fitted for a spacesuit and doing an experiment in space.
Upon returning to the United States after serving in the Peace Corps, Jemison settled inLos Angeles,California. In Los Angeles, she entered into private practice and took graduate-level engineering courses. Inspired by the flights ofSally Ride andGuion Bluford in 1983, Jemison applied to the astronaut program in October 1985.[4] After NASA postponed selection of new candidates after theSpace ShuttleChallenger disaster in 1986, Jemison reapplied in 1987. She was chosen out of roughly 2,000 applicants for 15 slots inNASA Astronaut Group 12, the first selected afterChallenger.[11] TheAssociated Press covered her as the "first black woman astronaut" in 1987.[25]CBS featured Jemison as one of the country's "most eligible singles" onBest Catches, a television special hosted byPhylicia Rashad andRobb Weller in 1989.[26]
Jemison's work with NASA before her shuttle launch included launch support activities at theKennedy Space Center in Florida and verification of Shuttle computer software in theShuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL).[27][28] On September 28, 1989, she was selected to join theSTS-47 crew asMission Specialist 4 and was also designated Science Mission Specialist, a new astronaut role being tested by NASA to focus on scientific experiments.[29]
Jemison flew her only space mission from September 12 to 20, 1992, as one of the seven-member crew aboard Space ShuttleEndeavour,[4][30] on mission STS-47, a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan, as well as the 50th shuttle mission.[31] Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space and orbited the earth 127 times.[32][33] The crew was split into two shifts with Jemison assigned to the Blue Shift. Throughout the eight-day mission, she began communications on her shift with the salute "Hailing frequencies open", a quote fromStar Trek.[34] Jemison took a poster from theAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater along with her on the flight.[8][35] She also took a West African statuette[8] and a photo of pioneering aviatorBessie Coleman, the first African American with an internationalpilot license.[36][8]
STS-47 carried theSpacelab Japan module, a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan that included 43 Japanese and United States life science and materials processing experiments.[29] Jemison and Japanese astronautMamoru Mohri were trained to use the Autogenic Feedback Training Exercise (AFTE),[37] a technique developed byPatricia S. Cowings that usesbiofeedback andautogenic training to help patients monitor and control their physiology as a possible treatment formotion sickness,anxiety andstress-related disorders.[38][39]
Jemison aboard the Spacelab Japan module onEndeavour
Aboard the Spacelab Japan module, Jemison tested NASA's Fluid Therapy System, a set of procedures and equipment to producewater for injection, developed by Sterimatics Corporation. She then usedIV bags and a mixing method, developed byBaxter Healthcare, to use the water from the previous step to producesaline solution in space.[40] Jemison was also a co-investigator of twobone cell research experiments.[24] Another experiment she participated in was to induce female frogs to ovulate, fertilize the eggs, and then see howtadpoles developed in zero gravity.[41]
Resignation from NASA
Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993 to start a company.[30][20][42] NASA training manager and authorHomer Hickam, who had trained Jemison for her flight, later expressed some regret that she had departed.[8]
Post-NASA career
Jemison in 2013
Jemison served on the board of directors of the World Sickle Cell Foundation from 1990 to 1992.[7] In 1993, she founded The Jemison Group Inc., a consulting firm which considers thesociocultural impact of technological advancements and design.[2][43] Jemison also founded the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence and named the foundation in honor of her mother.[44] One of the projects of the foundation isThe Earth We Share, a science camp for students aged 12 to 16. Founded in 1994,[45] camps have been held atDartmouth College,Colorado School of Mines,Choate Rosemary Hall and other sites in the United States,[44] as well as internationally in South Africa, Tunisia, and Switzerland.[46] Jemison stated that the goal of these four-week long, residential programs is to increase scientific literacy by developing the students’ abilities in both critical thinking and problem solving. Students accomplish this by working in teams and using thescientific method to identify and solve a real problem facing their communities.[47] The Dorothy Jemison Foundation also sponsors other events and programs, including the Shaping the World essay competition, Listening to the Future (a survey program that targets obtaining opinions from students), Earth Online (an online chatroom that allows students to safely communicate and discuss ideas on space and science), and the Reality Leads Fantasy Gala.[48]
In 1999, Jemison founded BioSentient Corp and obtained the license to commercialize AFTE, the technique she and Mohri tested on themselves during STS-47.[38][39]
In 2012, Jemison made the winning bid for the DARPA100 Year Starship project through the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence. The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence was awarded a $500,000 grant for further work. The new organization maintained the organizational name 100 Year Starship. Jemison is the current principal of the 100 Year Starship.[52]
Jemison's first book,Find Where the Wind Goes (2001), is amemoir of her life written for children.[2][55] She describes her childhood, her time at Stanford, in the Peace Corps and as an astronaut.[56]School Library Journal found the stories about her earlier life to be the most appealing.[56]Book Report found that the autobiography gave a realistic view into her interactions with her professors, whose treatment of her was not based on her intelligence but onstereotypes ofwoman of color.[57]
HerA True Book series of four children's books published in 2013 is co-authored with Dana Meachen Rau.[58] Each book in the series has a "Find the Truth" challenge, true or false questions answers to which are revealed at the end of the story.[58]School Library Journal found the series to be "properly tantalizing surveys" of theSolar System but criticized the inclusion of a few outdated theories inphysics andastronomy.[59]
Public profile
Jemison at a symposium in 2009
LeVar Burton learned that Jemison was an avidStar Trek fan and asked her if she would be interested in being on the show. In 1993, Jemison appeared as Lieutenant Palmer in "Second Chances", an episode of the science fiction television seriesStar Trek: The Next Generation, becoming the first real-life astronaut to appear onStar Trek.[60][61]
From 1999 to 2005, Jemison was appointed an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University.[62][63]
Jemison is an active public speaker who appears before private and public groups promoting science and technology. "Having been an astronaut gives me a platform," says Jemison, "but I'd blow it if I just talked about the Shuttle." Jemison uses her platform to speak out on the gap in the quality of health-care between the United States and theThird World, saying that "Martin Luther King [Jr.]... didn't just have a dream, he got things done."[64] Jemison has also appeared as host and technical consultant of the science seriesWorld of Wonder which aired on theDiscovery Channel from 1994 to 1998.[65][66]
In 2006, Jemison participated inAfrican American Lives, aPBS television miniseries hosted byHenry Louis Gates Jr., that traces the family history of eight famous African Americans using historical research and genetic techniques.[67] Jemison found to her surprise that she is 13%East Asian in her genetic makeup.[67] She also learned that some of her paternal ancestors were slaves at a plantation inTalladega County, Alabama.[68]
Jemison participated in the Red Dress Heart Truth fashion show, wearingLyn Devon, during the 2007New York Fashion Week to help raise money to fight heart disease.[69] In May of the same year, she was the graduation commencement speaker and only the 11th person in the 52-year history ofHarvey Mudd College to be awarded an honoraryD.Eng. degree.[70]
On February 17, 2008, Jemison was the featured speaker for the 100th anniversary of the founding of theAlpha Kappa Alpha, the first sorority established by African-American college women. Jemison paid tribute to Alpha Kappa Alpha by carrying the sorority's banner with her on her shuttle flight. Her space suit is a part of the sorority's national traveling Centennial Exhibit. Jemison is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.[71]
Jemison participated with First LadyMichelle Obama in a forum for promising girls in theWashington, D.C. public schools in March 2009.[72]
In 2014, Jemison also appeared atWayne State University for their annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Luncheon.[73] In 2016, she partnered withBayer Corporation to promote and advance science literacy in schools, emphasizing hands-on experimentation.[74]
She took part in theMichigan State University's lecture series, "Slavery to Freedom: An American Odyssey", in February 2017.[75] In May 2017, Jemison gave the commencement speech atRice University.[76] She discussed the 100 Year Plan, science and education and other topics atWestern Michigan University also in May 2017.[77]
Jemison built a dance studio in her home and has choreographed and produced several shows of modern jazz and African dance.[4][20][81]
In the spring of 1996, Jemison filed a complaint against a Texas police officer, accusing him of police brutality during a traffic stop that ended in her arrest. She was pulled over byNassau Bay police officer Henry Hughes for allegedly making an illegalU-turn and arrested after Hughes learned of an outstanding warrant on Jemison for aspeeding ticket.[82] In the process of arresting her, the officer twisted her wrist and forced her to the ground, as well as having her walk barefooted from the patrol car into the police station.[82][83] In her complaint, Jemison said the officer physically and emotionally mistreated her.[84] Jemison's attorney said she believed she had already paid the speeding ticket years ago.[82] She spent several hours in jail and was treated at an area hospital after release for deep bruises and a head injury.[85] The Nassau Bay officer was suspended with pay pending an investigation,[86] but the police investigation cleared him of wrongdoing.[83] She filed a lawsuit against the city of Nassau Bay and the officer.[85]
Jemison, Mae; Rau, Dana Meachen (2013).Journey Through Our Solar System (True Books: Dr. Mae Jemison and 100 Year Starship). Scholastic.ISBN978-0-531-24061-8.
^abHaynes, Karima A. (December 1992)."Mae Jemison: coming in from outer space".Ebony. pp. 118, 120, 124.Perhaps the most moving tribute came during a homecoming rally at Morgan Park High School, where Jemison graduated in 1973.
^"Stanford Original By Blacks".The Times. May 21, 1977. p. 48.Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^abcdFrazer, Jendayi; Jemison, Mae C. (1993). "Advancing African Health Care through Space Technology: An Interview with Dr. Mae C. Jemison".Africa Today.40 (3):70–71.ISSN0001-9887.JSTOR4186922.
^Dozier, Vickki (February 1, 2017)."First Black Female Astronaut a Speaker".Lansing State Journal. p. A3.Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^Fitzpatrick, Andy (March 25, 2017)."Blaze a Path to Alpha Centauri".Battle Creek Enquirer. pp. A3.Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^Sloat, Sarah (March 8, 2019)."On International Women's Day, Google Celebrates NASA Pioneer Mae Jemison".Inverse. RetrievedMarch 17, 2019.Jemison, famously the first African-American woman to go to space, is quoted from a talk she gave in 2009 at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. Her full statement reads: Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations... If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won't exist because you'll have already shut it out... You can hear other people's wisdom, but you've got to re-evaluate the world for yourself.
^Jemison, Mae."Fast Facts".Honorary Member. Gamma Sigma Sigma National Service Sorority, Inc. Archived fromthe original on February 4, 2014. RetrievedFebruary 2, 2014.
^"Mae C. Jemison".The Montgomery Fellows. Dartmouth College. December 28, 2016.Archived from the original on November 12, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2017.
^"Mae Carol Jemison".International Space Hall of Fame. New Mexico Museum of Space History.Archived from the original on June 15, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2017.
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