Since today is

Greg’s birthday no Black History Month spotlight this morning on the main page, but here’s a picture of the first Black woman astronaut, Dr. Mae Jemison, a fellow Libra, and, as promised, a hot babe.

Mae’s mom was as school teacher and her dad was a maintenence worker in Chicago . She got undergrad degrees from Stanford in African-American studies and Chemical Engineering, she became a doctor at Cornell and even spent some time in the Peace Corps after college.

The first time that she applied for acceptance at the NASA astronaut training program she was rejected, but the next time she tried she was chosen. Out of over 2,000 applicants, only 15 were selected. When Mae successfully finished her training program she became the first Black woman astronaut. At that time only four other Blacks had ever become astronauts.

In 1992 she flew on the US/Japanese joint mission on SPACELAB making her the first Black woman in space.

Today she heads up the Jemison Group focusing on consulting on the design and implementation of solar thermal electricity generation systems for developing countries and remote areas and the use of satellite-based telecommunications to facilitate health care delivery in West Africa.

Let’s hope she’s also a Cub fan.

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