CHAPTER EIGHT NASA Astronaut Mae Jemison was the science mission specialist for STS-47 Endeavour. MAE JEMISON First african-american woman Astronaut OBJECTIVES n Describe Mae Jemison’s stronaut Mae Jemison became the The foundation of her own future was life before she became an astronaut. first African-American woman to built experientially as a child, watch- n Describe Jemison’s life after A go into space in 1992. As historic ing television news broadcasts of Apollo she left NASA. as that mission was, however, it did not missions and entertainment broadcasts of n List some of her accomplishments. mark the end of her pioneering accom- the science fiction TV showStar Trek. After n Build the shuttle Columbia. plishments. She has spent almost three studying at Stanford University in Califor- decades since the mission on the Space nia, and through a career as a physician, STANDARDS Shuttle Endeavour building the future on a medical researcher, engineer, college pro- number of different fronts: fessor, and Peace Corps volunteer, she was NGSS selected into NASA’s astronaut program in SCIENCE n Helping to pave the way for the future 1987. n MS-ETS1-1 n MS-ETS1-3 STEM career force, encouraging women She left NASA in 1993, and in addition n MS-ETS1-2 n MS-ETS1-4 and minorities through educational to her global real-world accomplishments ELA/LITERACY programs in higher education, youth education, n RST.6-8.3 n WHST.6-8.8 n Serving on the board of several Fortune research, and business, she found recogni- n RST.6-8.9 500 companies tion in the futuristic fictional world created n SL.8.5 n Trying to pave the way for human out of that inspiring show of her youth, NCSS interstellar travel Star Trek: The Next Generation. She was the first astronaut to appear on the show. n IV.f. n V.c. All of science, all of space exploration, everything we do in the world “is about imagination and using your creativity to expand beyond your normal boundaries. — Mae Jemison — PAGE” 77 — HER STORY Born the youngest of three children ate in medicine from Cornell University in Decatur, Ala., on Oct. 17, 1956, Mae in 1981. Carol Jemison moved with her family In college, a few professors tried to to Chicago in 1959 when she was 3 discourage her career choice, she told years old, and she considers the city her Ebony magazine in 2012. She cited her hometown. Her father was a mainte- parents’ support, her love of science, nance worker, and her mother was an and her confidence in explaining why elementary schoolteacher. She was in- she continued to pursue science. “I terested in science at an early age. She believed I belonged there,” she told grew up watching the Apollo mission Terry. “It was a challenge, but I figured broadcasts on television and was upset I had as much right to do this and I will there were no female astronauts. complete this.” “In the 1960s, a lot of people didn’t After college, she worked as a see themselves included in space explo- general practitioner in Los Angeles ration,” Jemison told Ebony magazine’s until December 1982. For the next two Dorothy Givens Terry. People of color and half years, she served in the Peace are often not seen as pioneers in areas Corps as medical officer for Sierra where they actually were pioneers, she Leone and Liberia in West Africa. In the continued. “Matthew Henson [Arctic Peace Corps, she managed the health explorer] was there. Lewis Latimer care delivery system for the Corps and [inventor/draftsman] was there.” U.S. Embassy personnel, including its Jemison did see a future for herself medical care, pharmacy, and laboratory. NASA in science. She developed curriculum and taught Achievements include “I knew in kindergarten that I was volunteer personal health training. She going to be a scientist,” Jemison says also developed and worked on medical n Became the first African-Ameri- on her website, DrMae.com. “I also research projects. She is fluent in Rus- can woman in space (1992) wanted to be a dancer, an architect, sian, Japanese, and Swahili. n Inducted into the National and a fashion designer.” In 1985, she returned to Los Ange- Women’s Hall of Fame (1993) Asked who inspired her, Jemison les as a general practitioner while at- n Received the Kilby Science says, “My mother and father, siblings, tending graduate engineering classes. Award (1993) teachers, uncles and aunts, next door She applied and was selected for n Inducted into Texas Women’s neighbors, and friends, because I knew NASA’s astronaut program in June 1987, Hall of Fame (2002) them day-to-day. Each one of their one of 15 out of more than 2,000 ap- n Received the National Organiza- characters and values taught me some- plicants. She was assigned to launch tion for Women’s Intrepid Award thing about life. My mother taught me support activities at Kennedy Space (2003) the importance of lifelong learning and Center in Florida; verification of Shuttle n Inducted into the International intellectual challenge.” computer software in the Shuttle Avion- Space Hall of Fame (2004) Jemison graduated from high ics Integration Laboratory (SAIL); and n Received Buzz Aldrin Space school in 1973 at age 16 and received Science Support Group activities. Pioneer Award (2017) a scholarship to Stanford University. In For STS-47 Spacelab-J (September 1977, she earned a bachelor’s degree in 12-20, 1992), she was the science chemical engineering and also ful- mission specialist. Jemison flew with filled the requirements for a bachelor’s six other crew members aboard Space degree in African and Afro-American Shuttle Endeavour in the cooperative studies. She went on to earn her doctor- Continued on PAGE 79 — PAGE 77 — — PAGE 78 — her Story (continued from Page 78) mission between the U.S. and Japan. filming. “All of science, all of space seed funded through a competitive The mission made 127 orbits of Earth exploration, everything we do in the grant from DARPA [Defense Advanced while its crew conducted 44 Japanese world is about imagination, using your Research Projects Agency] to ensure and U.S. life science and materials creativity to expand beyond your nor- the capabilities for human travel to processing experiments. Jemison was mal boundaries,” she said in a news another star within the next 100 years the co-investigator on the bone cell re- interview about her appearance on the while transforming life on Earth.” search experiment that was conducted show. DARPA’s mission is investing in what it on the mission. Also in the early 1990s, she sees as “breakthrough technologies for She left NASA in 1993 to teach started a non-profit foundation, named national security.” at Dartmouth College in the area of after her mother, the Dorothy Jemi- In July 2019, amid the celebrations space-age technology and developing son Foundation for Excellence, which of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo nations. promotes youth education and science 11 mission that put the first humans Soon after, she was back in space literacy. The foundation’s premier on the Moon, she posted on social of a fictional kind. Actor LeVar Burton program, the Earth We Share, is an media a glance to the future during asked Jemison to appear on an episode international student camp for science the nation’s salute to the past. of Star Trek: The Next Generation in literacy. Her Twitter post on July 21, 2019, 1993. She became the first real-life Her sense of social responsibility read: astronaut to appear on the show, set was inspired by Linus Pauling, who Clarity: Celebrating Apollo 11 in a TV universe that had originally won the Nobel Prize in 1952 in Bio- is not just about the past 50 inspired her pursuit of a career in chemistry and again in 1961. She calls years and the “good old days”. space. The event was particularly him “a scientist who helped me know It’s about what we learned from meaningful for her because as a young the importance of exploration and dis- them and how we use that child, Jemison had been inspired by covery, but also social responsibility.” knowledge, determination and the character of Lt. Uhura, played Another project fueled by her courage to make the next 10, 20, by African-American actor Nichelle sense of social responsibility that 50 years the “better new days.” Nichols, on the original ‘60s Star Trek she leads is 100 Year Starship, which #LookUp #Apollo50th TV show. Nichols was on hand for the describes itself as “a global initiative extension 1 across 1. Space mission that excited Jemison about the crossword puzzle possibility of becoming an astronaut. 3. Birthplace in Alabama. 2 5. Earned a scholarship to this university. 7. Before becoming an astronaut, Jemison worked as a 3 __________ in Los Angeles. 8. Costarred on with him. 4 Star Trek: The Next Generation 5 down 1. Served in the Peace Corps as a medical officer here. 2. Chemist who taught Jemison the value of both scientific discovery and social responsibility. 6 7 3. Taught space-age technology at this college. 4. Space shuttle Jemison was a crew member on. 8 6. Star Trek character Jemison admired. ACROSS: 1. Apollo 3. Decatur 5. Stanford 7. Doctor 8. Burton DOWN: 1. Africa 2. Pauling 3. Dartmouth 4. Endeavour 6. Uhura Created using the Crossword Maker on TheTeachersCorner.net. — PAGE 79 extension read aloud Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, wrote a children’s book,Find Where the Wind Goes: Moments from My Life.