Jemison rides Endeavour into orbit, the first Black woman to reach space

Five years after joining NASA's astronaut corps, Mae Jemison was assigned to a shuttle bound for orbit. On September 12, 1992, she launched aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour as a mission specialist on STS-47, becoming the first Black woman to travel to space. The flight was a joint US-Japan mission carrying the Spacelab Japan module, where Jemison ran fluid and bone-cell experiments during her shift. She opened her communications each shift with "Hailing frequencies open," a line borrowed from Star Trek…