On this day in space! NASA astronaut Mae Jemison makes history as the 1st Black woman in space

On Sept. 12, 1992, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to go to space.

In NASA's early days, women and people of color were never selected to go to space. NASA didn't send a woman to space until the seventh space shuttle mission in 1983. NASA launched the first Black man in space, astronaut Guion Bluford, on the following mission that same year.

• Women in Space: A Gallery of Firsts

But it would take another nine years for NASA to finally select a Black woman to fly on STS-47, the 50th space shuttle mission. J...