“Hailing frequencies open.”
As an African American female growing up in the 1960s, MAE JEMISON noticed the lack of female astronauts. The precocious girl who loved science, space travel, and dancing, saw little of herself until Nichelle Nichols’ brought Lt. Uhara to life aboard the Starship Enterprise. This fictional character provided the inspiration a young girl needed to pursue her dreams.
Jemison graduated high school at 16; received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a B.A. in African and African American Studies from Stanford University; and earned her medical degree from Cornell Medical School.
Dr. Jemison was physician until she joined NASA in 1987. In 1992, she became the first African American woman in space, opening each day with, “hailing frequencies open.” As NASA allows each astronaut to take an item with them into space, she took an Alvin Ailey dance troop poster with her. When asked why she brought this, she replied, “…science and dance are both expressions of the boundless creativity that people have to share with one another.”
After completing her stint with NASA, she started a socially conscious tech consulting firm, The Jemison Group, Inc. She has taught environmental studies as Dartmouth College, as well as directed the Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries. Currently, she is Principal for the 100 Year Starship Project, a foundation committed to ensuring human travel to another star by 2112. She founded the non-profit Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence (in honor of the mother, an elementary school teacher), and started The Earth We Share, an international science literacy curriculum and program.
Dr. Mae Jemison is an amazing woman whose seemingly divergent passions continue to inspire. Be like Mae, and follow your own nerdy passions. Reach for the stars!
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Photo credit: By NASA – NASA Image and Video Library (file), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78843250