Crosspost: A Life of Transdisciplinary Science, The Expeditions of Mae Jemison

Written by Michelle Hampson for AAAS

Dr. Mae Jemison—doctor, engineer, and Star Trek fan—was the first Black woman to travel into space.

In 1992, newly elected AAAS Fellow Dr. Mae Jemison was doing an experiment where she injected several female African clawed frogs with a hormone to induce ovulation. After harvesting and carefully analyzing batches of eggs under a microscope and fertilizing the healthiest looking ones, she would periodically re-assess the embryos and take microscopic images to document their development. This protocol was part of standard experiments to study reproduction – except that it was happening in space.

Jemison was one of 15 selected from 2,000 applicants to serve in NASA’s astronaut corps and later became the science mission specialist on board the STS-47 Spacelab-J, in partnership with the Japan Space Agency. Over the course of the eight-day space mission, Jemison was tasked with many experiments, including this research project to investigate how frog embryos develop in the ultra-low gravity conditions of space.

Read the rest of the article at: https://www.aaas.org/membership/member-spotlight/life-transdisciplinary-science-expeditions-mae-jemison