1st Black Woman in Elite Group : L.A. Doctor Picked for Astronaut Corps

Dr. Mae C. Jemison of West Los Angeles, the first black woman to be selected for the nation’s astronaut corps, says she wants to be known as “just another astronaut,” but that if she becomes a role model for other black women aspiring to join the nation’s space agency, that’s OK too.

Jemison, 30, was named on Friday by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to join 14 other individuals in the first class of astronaut trainees chosen by the space agency since the Jan. 28, 1986, Challenger disaster.

“I certainly hope I’ll be a role model, encouraging anyone to do the things they want to do,” said Jemison, who is in general practice on the staff of the CIGNA Medical Center near downtown Los Angeles.

Jemison, who is single, received a chemical engineering degree from Stanford University in 1977, graduated from New York’s Cornell University Medical College in 1981 and then interned at County-USC Medical Center. She talked to reporters between her rounds on the sixth floor of the hospital’s ambulatory unit.

‘Seemed Really Exciting’

Declaring that she wanted to become an astronaut from the time she was a child, Jemison said, “it seemed really exciting--not like ‘oh, look at the rocket ship going up,’ but really exciting” in terms of a professional challenge.

Jemison, a native of Decatur, Ala., who grew up in Chicago, is the youngest of three children. Her father, she said, is a janitor in Chicago and her mother is an elementary school teacher there.

Jemison said she spent 2 1/2 years as a staff doctor for the Peace Corps in West Africa before joining CIGNA 18 months ago. In October, 1985, she became one of 1,962 applicants for the class of 15 astronaut trainees.

The Challenger disaster, she said, didn’t scare her. Of the NASA program, she said: “There are dangers involved; it’s not 100% safe.” The first post-Challenger flight has been scheduled for June 2, 1988.

Keeps in Shape

Jemison, who is scheduled to report to the Johnson Space Center in Houston on Aug. 17, said she keeps in shape through jazz dancing exercises and bicycling. And now that she is about to join NASA, she added, “I want to learn how to fly.”

She will become one of four civilians and 10 military officers in the new class.

Other candidates are: Air Force Capt. Thomas D. Akers, 36, of Niceville, Fla., mission specialist candidate; Marine Capt. Andrew M. Allen, 31, of Hollywood, Md., pilot candidate; Navy Lt. Kenneth D. Bowersox, 30, of Ridgecrest, Calif., pilot candidate; Air Force Capt. Curtis L. Brown Jr., 31, of Niceville, Fla., pilot candidate; Air Force Maj. Kevin P. Chilton, 32, of Shalimar, Fla., pilot candidate, and Jan Dozier, 33, of Huntsville, Ala., mission specialist candidate.

Also selected were: Dr. C. Michael Foale, 30, of Seabrook, Tex., mission specialist candidate; Gregory J. Harbaugh, 31, of Houston, mission specialist candidate; Air Force Maj. Donald R. McMonagle, 35, of Henderson, Nev., pilot candidate; Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Bruce E. Melnic, 37, of Traverse City, Mich., mission specialist candidate; William F. Readdy, 35, Seabrook, Tex., pilot candidate; Navy Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth S. Reightler Jr., 36, of Lexington Park, Md., pilot candidate; Navy Lt. Cmdr. Mario Runco Jr., 35, of Aiea, Hawaii, mission specialist candidate, and Army Maj. James S. Voss, 38, of Houston, mission specialist candidate.