In 1992, Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to become an astronaut, lifting off on the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison, who orbited the Earth for a week on the shuttle, will be making a trip to Bozeman, Montana, February 1.

"An Evening with Mae Jemison: First African American Woman in Space" is a lecture in the Montana State University Strand Union Building that night at 7:30 p.m. Jemison was an astronaut for six years. She is also an inductee to the National Women's Hall of Fame and the International Space Hall of Fame.

After she left NASA in 1993, she founded the Jemison Group research group and started "The Earth We Share," an international science camp for kids aged 12 to 16. She also has been active in training middle school teachers how to encourage students in science endeavours. She also leads 100 Year Starship, a nonprofit program, working on the possibility of humans traveling to another star within the next century. Before becoming an astronaut, she graduated from Stanford University and continued classes at Cornell Medical University Medical College and also spent time in the Peace Corps.

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In an MSU news release, Jemison said she was inspired by actress Nichelle Nichols, who was Lieutenant Uhura on TV's Star Trek. In fact, Jemison was the first actual astronaut to appear in a Star Trek series, in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

Tickets for her appearance at MSU are on sale for $15, with student tickets at $8 at ticketswest.com. For more information, contact the MSU Leadership Institute at 406 994-7275.

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