Gaylen: Welcome to The Sound of Science on WNIJ. I’m Joe from NIU Center for Black Studies. Joe will accompany me today as we dive deep into history.
Joe: Mae Jemison might not be a household name, but she has been a powerhouse of science for the past 3 decades. She was the first black female astronaut, inspired by Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek and Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
Gaylen: Just her degrees in chemical engineering, Afro-American studies, and medicine alone should inspire us, but in 1987 she was among the 15 new astronauts, beating out 2000 others.
Joe: During her space journey in 1992, she conducted experiments on bone cell growth in a zero-gravity environment, one of the 43 experiments in the eight-day mission.
Gaylen: After her career in NASA, she founded a company to oversee the 100-Year Starship Project. The goal of which is to make our dreams of human space travel beyond the solar system possible. The idea of going to another solar system can lead to knowledge and technology that can improve lives on earth.
Joe: Mae Jemison was clearly a woman who wanted to change the world for the better, doing everything she could from teaching at colleges, to helping teens progress their love for science.
Gaylen: She once said, “Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations... If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won't exist because you'll have already shut it out... You can hear other people's wisdom, but you've got to re-evaluate the world for yourself."
Joe: There is so much more to Mae Jemison than we can fit in here! Tune in next time as we explore more black scientists here on The Sound of Science on WNIJ…
Gaylen: Where you learn something new every day.
