Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison was born in 1956. In 1977, she graduated college from Sanford University with degrees in chemical engineering and African and African-American studies. Then she went to medical school at Cornell. In 1987, Jemison applied to an astronaut program at NASA and she was eventually chosen. In 1989, she joined the STS-47 mission and was the Mission Specialist. Jemison became the first African American woman in space and completed 127 orbits around the Earth. Jemison was an astronaut for six years. She has written several books and received several awards. She is 66 years old and working on the 100 Year Starship project.