Mae Carol Jamison was the first black woman astronaut. She was born in Decatur, Alabama on October 17, 1956. She was raised mostly in Chicago Illinois where her family moved when she was three. Mae and her siblings received a better education than was available in Alabama. Her mother Dorothy Jamison, was an elementary school teacher and her father , Charlie Jamison, was a maintenance supervisor and part time construction worker.

Mae’s sixth grade teacher took the class to Africa and other non European countries which lit up a fire in Mae to learn about the world and it’s people. She was interested in the origin and development of human beings and the different people of the world. Archeology would let her look at the ancient civilizations and the changes of human beings and their environment over thousands of years. Through astronomy she learned about the moon, stars, planets, and other celestial bodies. She dreamed about becoming a “star sailor.”

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The 1966, TV series “Star Trek” where the space ship with Captain Kirk and his crew traveled the galaxy kept that dream alive. The added attraction for Mae was the one permanent black crew member who was played by Nichelle Nickols. Mae’s parents and teachers encouraged her to read and ask questions. In High School Mae scored so high on the preliminary aptitude test that she won a National Achievement Scholarship. She began preparing herself for Stanford University in Stanford, California. Mae graduated from college with not one, but two degrees. Chemical engineering and African-American studies.

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In the 1970s more people than today believed that women and blacks didn’t have the right stuff to succeed in the study of science. Obviously nobody could dispute that Mae did have the “right stuff”, to have graduated with two degrees to her credit. Mae decided to become a doctor. Cornell University was where she decided to go and while doing so she was constantly expanding her horizon. She conducted health care studies in Kenya as a member of the “flying doctors,” as the International Travelers Institute of Health Studies was called.

After graduation in 1981 Mae did her internship at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical College and became a general practitioner with Ross Loos Medical Group. She joined the Peace Corps and and was stationed in West Africa from 1983 to 1985. She not only worked as a doctor but ran the laboratory and pharmacy. She also did research and wrote several manuals. When Mae came back to the states in 85 she still had her dreams of being a “star traveler.” She acted on it by applying to the astronaut program. She was sharply aware that not many of her race or gender had ever been selected. Mae knew she had the credentials but so did many others. In 1987 out of roughly two thousands applicants Mae was one of fifteen chosen.

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In August at the end of her training Mae became a full fledged Astronaut. On Sept.12,1992 at Kennedy’s Space Center’s pad B in Launch complex 39, Mae Carol Jamison, age thirty six, boarded the space shuttle Endeavor as a science mission specialist. Her six space mates were, Robert L.”Hoot” Gibson, Curtis L. Brown, Mark C. Lee, Mamoru Mohri, Jerome ‘Jay”Apt, and N. Jan Davis. With blast off the child who dreamed of being a star sailor was on her way.

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