Dr. Mae C. Jemison, First African-American Woman in Space
Full Description
The first African-American woman in space, Dr. Mae C. Jemison was born on October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama but considers Chicago, Illinois her hometown. She received a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering (and completed the requirements for a Bachelor in African and Afro-American studies) at Stanford University in 1977. Dr. Jemison also received a Doctorate degree in medicine from Cornell University in 1981. After medical school she did post graduate medical training at the Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center. As an area Peace Corps medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa, she managed the health care delivery system for U.S. Peace Corps and U.S. Embassy personnel. Jemison's background includes work in the areas of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and reproductive biology. She also developed and participated in research projects on the Hepatitis B vaccine and rabies. Jemison was a General Practitioner and attending graduate Engineering classes in Los Angeles when she was named an astronaut candidate in 1987. She flew her first flight as a science mission specialist on STS-47, Spacelab-J, in September 1992. She was co-investigator for the Bone Cell Research Experiment on that mission. In completing her first space flight, Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes and 23 seconds in space. Jemison resigned from NASA in March 1993. In 1994, she founded and began a term as chair of The Earth We Share (TEWS), an annual international science camp where students, aged 12 to 16, work together to solve current global dilemmas. From 1995- 2002 she was a professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College. She is currently director of the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in developing countries. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame and several corporate boards of directors on the Texas Governor's State Council for Science and Biotechnology Development. Dr. Jemison published her memoirs, Find Where DE:the Wind Goes:Moments from My Life in 2001. She currently resides in Houston, Texas.
Date
07/1992
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
Group 12 ASCANs Davis and Je
…
Title
Group 12 ASCANs Davis and Jemison during zero gravity training aboard KC-135
Description
Group 12, 1987 Astronaut Class, candidates (ASCANs) N. Jan Davis (left) and Mae C. Jemison freefloat during the seconds of microgravity created aboard the KC-135 NASA 930 aircraft's parabolic flight. Davis and Jemison two of the recently-named ASCANs take a familiarization flight aboard the KC-135 "zero gravity" aircraft.
Date Taken
1987-10-05
STS-47 MS Jemison works in t
…
Title
STS-47 MS Jemison works in the Spacelab Japan (SLJ) module aboard OV-105
Description
STS-47 Mission Specialist (MS) Mae C. Jemison appears to be clicking her heels in zero gravity in the center aisle of the Spacelab Japan (SLJ) science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105. Making her first flight in space, Dr. Jemison was joined by five other NASA astronauts and a Japanese payload specialist for eight days of research in support of the SLJ mission, a joint effort between Japan and United States.
Date Taken
1992-09-20
Female Astronauts
Title
Female Astronauts
Full Description
Astronauts Dr. N. Jan Davis (left) and Dr. Mae C. Jemison (right) were mission specialists on board the STS-47 mission. Born on November 1, 1953 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Dr. N. Jan Davis received a Master degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1983 followed by a Doctorate in Engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1985. In 1979 she joined NASA Marshall Space Flight Center as an aerospace engineer. A veteran of three space flights, Dr. Davis has logged over 678 hours in space since becoming an astronaut in 1987. She flew as a mission specialist on STS-47 in 1992 and STS-60 in 1994, and was the payload commander on STS-85 in 1997. In July 1999, she transferred to the Marshall Space Flight Center, where she became Director of Flight Projects. Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, was born on October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama but considers Chicago, Illinois her hometown. She received a Bachelor degree in Chemical Engineering (and completed the requirements for a Bachelor degree in African and Afro-American studies) at Stanford University in 1977, and a Doctorate degree in medicine from Cornell University in 1981. After receiving her doctorate, she worked as a General Practitioner while attending graduate engineering classes in Los Angeles. She was named an astronaut candidate in 1987, and flew her first flight as a science mission specialists on STS-47, Spacelab-J, in September 1992, logging 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space. In March 1993, Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA, thought she still resides in Houston, Texas. She went on to publish her memoirs, Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life, in 2001. The astronauts are shown preparing to deploy the lower body negative pressure (LBNP) apparatus in this 35mm frame taken in the science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Endeavor. Fellow astronauts Robert L. Gibson (Commander), Curtis L. Brown (Junior Pilot), Mark C. Lee (Payload Commander), Jay Apt (Mission Specialist), and Mamoru Mohri (Payload Specialist) joined the two on their maiden space flight. The Spacelab-J mission was a joint effort between Japan and the United States.
Date
09/15/1992
NASA Center
Johnson Space Center
STS-47 MS Jemison works with
…
Title
STS-47 MS Jemison works with FTS equipment in SLJ module aboard OV-105
Description
STS-47 Mission Specialist Mae C. Jemison injects a fluid into a mannequin's hand during research in the Spacelab Japan (SLJ) science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105. Working at Rack 9, Jemison conducts this Fluid Therapy System (FTS) experiment procedure. FTS will examine the effect of low gravity on the administration of intravenous (IV) fluids in space. Since gravity assists in the delivery and flow of IV fluids on Earth, researchers want to determine what problems the absence of gravity would cause if an IV had to be administrated to an astronaut in space. A new device that converts contaminated water into a sterile solution that can be used in IVs is part of the experiment. MS and Payload Commander Mark C. Lee is partially visible at lower right.
Astronaut Mae C. Jemison and STS-29 Mission Specialist (MS) James P. Bagian and MS Robert C. Springer inspect the interface between the tracking and data relay satellite D (TDRS-D) and inertial upper stage (IUS-9) in a test cell located in the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Vertical Processing Facility (VPF). The clean-suited astronauts, engineers, and technicians discuss the payload. Springer and Bagian are responsible for deployment of IUS / TDRS-D from Discovery's, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103's, payload bay (PLB) on STS-29. View provided by KSC with alternate number KSC-89PC-16.
Date Taken
1989-02-27
STS-47 crewmembers during KS
…
Title
STS-47 crewmembers during KSC terminal countdown demonstration test (TCDT)
Description
STS-47 crewmembers participate in terminal countdown demonstration test (TCDT) at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). On KSC Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39B tower, Mission Specialist (MS) Mark C. Lee (wearing sunglasses) points to a distant location as Japanese Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri (center), and Mission Specialist Mae C. Jemison look on. The crewmembers are standing on the launch tower's slidewire emergency egress system platform.
Date Taken
1992-09-21
STS-47 crew poses for Offici
…
Title
STS-47 crew poses for Official onboard (in space) portrait in SLJ module
Description
STS-47 crewmembers assemble for their traditional onboard (in-flight) portrait in the Spacelab Japan (SLJ) science module aboard the Earth-orbiting Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105. Left to right (front) are Mission Specialist N. Jan Davis, MS and Payload Commander (PLC) Mark C. Lee, and Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri, and (rear) Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Jr, MS Jerome Apt, Commander Robert L. Gibson, and MS Mae C. Jemison.
Date Taken
1992-09-20
STS-47 crew leaves KSC's O a
…
Title
STS-47 crew leaves KSC's O and C Building on their way to Launch Complex 39
Description
STS-47 Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105, crewmembers, wearing launch and entry suits (LESs), leave the Kennedy Space Center's (KSC's) Operations and Checkout (O and C) Building to board a van headed for Launch Complex (LC) 39. Leading the crew is Commander Robert L. Gibson (front right). He is followed by Mission Specialist (MS) Jerome Apt (glasses, front center), Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Jr (front left), MS N. Jan Davis (center left), MS and Payload Commander Mark C. Lee (center right), Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri (waving back left), and MS Mae C. Jemison (back right). Mohri represents Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA).
Date Taken
1992-09-20
STS-47 Endeavour, OV-105, Of
…
Title
STS-47 Endeavour, OV-105, Official crew portrait
Description
STS-47 Endeavour, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105, Official portrait includes the seven crewmembers wearing launch and entry suits (LESs). These seven crewmembers are currently in training for the STS-47 Spacelab J (SLJ) mission scheduled for later this year. Pictured are (left to right, front) Mission Specialist (MS) Jerome Apt and Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Jr (both holding launch and entry helmets (LEHs)), and (left to right, rear) MS N. Jan Davis, MS and Payload Commander (PLC) Mark C. Lee, Commander Robert L. Gibson, MS Mae C. Jemison, and Japanese Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri. Mohri is representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). In the background are the flags of the United States (U.S.) and Japan. Portrait was made by NASA JSC contract photographer Robert G. Markowitz.
Date Taken
1992-06-01
STS-47 Endeavour, OV-105, cr
…
Title
STS-47 Endeavour, OV-105, crew eats preflight breakfast at KSC O and C Bldg
Description
STS-47 crewmembers who will be aboard for Endeavour's, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 105's, second trip into space are about to have a light breakfast prior to the prelaunch suiting up process in the Kennedy Space Center's (KSC's) Operations and Checkout (O and C) Building. Sitting around table (left to right) are Mission Specialist (MS) N. Jan Davis, MS and Payload Commander (PLC) Mark C. Lee, Pilot Curtis L. Brown, Jr, Commander Robert L. Gibson, MS Jerome Apt, MS Mae C. Jemison, and Payload Specialist Mamoru Mohri. Mohri represents Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA). STS-47 will be devoted to the Spacelab Japan (SLJ) payload, a joint effort between Japan and the United States. A cake decorated with the STS-47 mission insignia is in the center of the table.
Date Taken
1992-09-20
1-11 of 11
Please wait while the presentation is being created...
