1992: Mae Carol Jemison was first Black woman to travel in space

Sept. 12, 1992

Dr. Mae Carol Jemison became the first Black woman to travel in space, going into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour with six other astronauts. 

A native of Decatur, Alabama, she excelled in a classroom as a student, attending Stanford University on a National Achievement Scholarship. She also attended Cornell University Medical College and became a physician, working at the University of Southern California Medical Center. 

After serving as the Peace Corps medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia, she decided to follow her dream of becoming an astronaut. In 1987, she became the first Black woman admitted into the astronaut program. During the space shuttle journey, she conducted scientific experiments on weightlessness and motion sickness. She later appeared in an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and now is the principal of the 100 Year Starship organization, which is working with NASA to help make interstellar space travel possible.