These are the only five Black women to have ever traveled into space

Mae Jemison

Traveled into space in September 1992

Mae Carol Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama, U.S.A. She is an American engineer, physician, and retired NASA astronaut. She graduated from Morgan Park High School in 1973 and entered Stanford University, where she served as the Head of the Black Students Union. She graduated with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and a B.A. degree in African American studies from Stanford University. Jemison graduated with an M.D. degree in 1981 from Cornell Medical School.

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She applied to NASA’s astronaut training program in 1987 and was among the 15 lucky persons selected from a pool of about 2000 applicants. She was included in the NASA Astronaut Group 12. On September 28, 1989, she was selected as one of the seven-member crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor on mission STS-47 (a collaborative mission between the U.S. and Japan). She served as Mission Specialist 4 and flew her only space mission from September 12 – 20, 1992. Jemison spent 7 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes, and 0 seconds in space and orbited earth 127 times. She resigned from NASA in March 1993 after her return from Space.