On This Day In Space: Sept. 12, 1992: Mae Jemison Becomes 1st African-American woman in space

[Judi Lynn]

By Hanneke Weitering last updated about 6 hours ago

On Sept. 12, 1992, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman to go to space.

In NASA's early days, women and people of color were never selected to go to space. NASA didn't send a woman to space until the seventh space shuttle mission in 1983. The first African-American man NASA launched into space flew on the following mission that same year.



NASA astronaut Mae Jemison flew on space shuttle Endeavour in September 1992, becoming the first black woman to travel to space. (Image credit: NASA)

Nine years later, NASA finally selected an African-American woman to fly on STS-47, the 50th space shuttle mission. Jemison was a trained engineer and licensed physician who served in the Peace Corps before applying to become an astronaut.

She worked as a mission specialist on STS-47 and logged over 190 hours in space. STS-47 was her only mission. In 1993, she retired from NASA and went on to found her own company, the Jemison Group, which is a technology consulting firm.

More:
https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html