Mae Jemison: podcast appearances and interviews

Mae Carol Jemison, born on October 17, 1956, is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first African-American woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected for the STS-47 mission, during which the Endeavour orbited the Earth for nearly eight days from September 12 to 20, 1992. Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago, she graduated from Stanford University with degrees in chemical engineering and African and African-American studies. She earned a medical degree from Cornell University and served as a doctor for the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone from 1983 until 1985, working as a general practitioner. She applied to NASA in pursuit of becoming an astronaut. After leaving NASA in 1993, Jemison founded a technology research company and later established a non-profit educational foundation. Through her foundation, she is the principal of the 100 Year Starship project funded by DARPA. Jemison has authored several books for children and made television appearances, including a role in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She holds several honorary doctorates and has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.