Astronaut Mae C. Jemison served as a science mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. She logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds in space and returned, with the rest of the Endeavour crew, to Earth on Sept. 20, 1992. Born in Decatur, Morgan County, Jemison has been a tireless advocate for science education and space exploration. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

American astronaut Mae Jemison at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, January 1992. (Image credit: NASA)

Mae Jemison, on space shuttle Endeavour, 1992. (Image credit: NASA)

Mission Specialist Mae Jemison at aft flight deck ports on space shuttle mission STS-47. (Image credit: NASA)

Astronaut Mae C. Jemison, science mission specialist, is pictured in the Spacelab-J Science Module wearing a headband and other monitoring gear for physiological evaluation aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Jemison, born in Decatur, Morgan County, was the first African-American woman in space. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, photo courtesy of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Physician, entrepreneur and former astronaut Mae Jemison delivers the Extraordinary Women Lecture sponsored by Auburn University Outreach and the Tuskegee Auburn Women’s Leadership Alliance Symposium at Auburn University in Auburn, Lee County, on Feb. 17, 2016. Jemison was born in Decatur, Morgan County. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Auburn University)