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Mae Jemison

17 October 1956 – present

Mae Jemison is an American engineer, physician and former NASA astronaut who in 1992 became the first African American woman to travel in space, flying aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Trained in chemical engineering and medicine, she served as a Peace Corps medical officer in West Africa before joining the astronaut corps, and later worked in technology consulting and education.

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Life events

Birth in Decatur, Alabama
17 October 1956

Born in Alabama and raised in Chicago from early childhood.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University
1977

Graduated from Stanford with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a degree in African and African American studies.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Medical degree from Cornell University
1981

Earned her MD from Cornell University Medical College.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Peace Corps medical officer in West Africa
1983 – 1985

Served as area medical officer for the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Selected as a NASA astronaut candidate
June 1987

Chosen for NASA Astronaut Group 12.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Spaceflight aboard STS-47
12 September 1992 – 20 September 1992

Flew as science mission specialist on Space Shuttle Endeavour, becoming the first African American woman in space.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Leaves NASA and founds the Jemison Group
1993

Resigned from the astronaut corps and started a technology consulting company.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Teaching at Dartmouth College
1995 – 2002

Served as a professor at Dartmouth and directed its Jemison Institute for Advancing Technology in Developing Countries.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Leads the 100 Year Starship initiative
2012

Her organisation won a DARPA grant to study the requirements for interstellar travel.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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