The Mary Sue

[The Mary Sue]

One of these books was Great Black Heroes: Five Black Explorers. Besides polar explorer Matthew Henson and Jean du Sable, the founder of Chicago, it also introduced me to Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space. And Jemison is all kinds of great. Besides being the first woman of color in space, Jemison was an outstanding doctor with the Peace Corps before she even joined NASA and, in addition to a professorship at Cornell, is currently the head of the 100 Year Starship project. Oh yeah, and she’s also the first ever astronaut to appear in a Star Trek production.

That Time Mae Jemison, Pioneering Astronaut, Was on Star Trek: The Next Generation | The Mary Sue

[The Mary Sue]

[smissmas-miracle]

I have to make a presentation for my Natural Sciences class tomorrow. Naturally, as I am going to an HBCU and tomorrow is the first day of black history month, we had to choose black scientists.

I chose Mae Jemison, because she’s an absolute badass.

This is my presentation.

(Except the ‘babe’ slide, I just wanted to let it be known on Tumblr that Mae Jemison was hot.)

Hopefully it doesn’t get me in trouble.

Enjoy.

[The Mary Sue]

[spockanduhura]

Oh, that’s just the first black woman in space meeting the first black woman in space.

[The Mary Sue]

[wildcat2030]

Mae Jemison fulfilled a childhood dream to travel to space. Now she wants to take humanity to the stars. Today, Mae Jemison may be best known as the first black female astronaut to travel to space, but someday she could be known for something much more monumental. That’s because she is now at the helm of what could well be the most audacious project ever imagined: a Pentagon-funded effort meant to lead within 100 years to a spaceship that will take humans to the stars. The 100-Year Starship, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), isn’t about building the Starship Enterprise, at least not yet. Rather, it’s about creating a nonprofit organization that can sustain efforts over the next century to enable interstellar travel. The Dorothy Jemison Foundation, headed by Mae Jemison, was selected earlier this year to lead the 100-Year Starship. This week the foundation announced its plans for shooting for the stars. First on the agenda is a gathering of scientists and the public in Houston, Texas, to discuss ways to advance interstellar travel. (via BBC - Future - Science & Environment - 100-Year Starship: Mae Jemison reaches for the stars)

[The Mary Sue]

[spacewatching]

Mae Jemison from Endeavour to The Enterprise