Mae Jemison, the first black female astronaut to fly to space in 1992,
has made history again. Jemison was selected as the winner of the latest
challenge by DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency -
under the Pentagon.
Last February,
NASA and
DARPA announced a joint-venture soliciting ideas for the next step in human space exploration. The
100-Year Starship
study collected entries until July from various experts in the field,
resulting in a ton of ideas for a one-way manned mission into space. And
now, the best idea has been chosen, and it was written by a true
pioneer in space travel:
Mae Jemison, former astronaut and the first black woman in space, submitted
the winning proposal,
entitled “An Inclusive Audacious Journey Transforms Life Here on Earth
& Beyond beating thousands of entries, including one to
create human life in space. The new project will be 100 years in the
making. Jemison and her crew of experts have been awarded a $500,000
seed grant
to begin development of a starship. Jemison and DARPA hope that the
training will one day result in
the creation of a starship through years of development.
Jemison is no stranger to excellence. The 55-year-old skipper from
Alabama is also a physician, engineer, a trained professional dancer and has dedicated service to
the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Jemison first flew on the Endeavour
shuttle mission and spent six years with NASA before ending her career
as an astronaut in 1993. Since then, she has worked in a variety of
fields including education, outreach, and technology. And, since there
are so many fun things to know about this woman, she speaks four
languages including English — Russian, Japanese, and Swahili — and is
the only actual astronaut to appear on
Star Trek. A fan of the
show since she was a kid, Jemison said she was inspired by Lt. Uhura to
consider space travel as a career. (She is now good friends with
Nichelle Nichols.) And in 1993, she did a walk-on role as
Lt. Palmer on
Star Trek: The Next Generation.
