Mae Jemison

By: Cassie Berry

When was she born?

• Born on October 17, 1956 in Decatur, Alabama.

• Moved to Chicago, Illinois with her family when she was three years old and grew up there.

What did she want to be when she grew up?

• Mae loved to read books about science and astronomy. When she was in Kindergarten, she told her teacher she wanted to be a scientist.

• She wanted to be an astronaut after she saw the first person that walked on the Moon on the news when she was 13.

Where did she go to school?

• She graduated from high school in 1973 when she was only 16 years old.

• In 1977, she graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a degree in African and Afro-American Studies.

• She received a medical degree from Cornell University in 1981.

Where has she traveled?

• When she was at Stanford she spent some time studying in Cuba and Kenya.

• After she finished medical school she joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Africa to work for two years.

What happened on September 12, 1992?

Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel in space.

She traveled in space as an astronaut aboard the space shuttle Endeavour with six other astronauts. She traveled in space for eight days.

Where I Got My Information

Mae Jemison by Nancy Polette

www.biography.com/people/mae-c-jemison-9542378

www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/jemison-mc.html