January 24, 2019 8:44 pm

Friday, Neil deGrasse Tyson Sits Down with Dr. Mae Jemison

A living legend. An inspiration. And, still at the forefront of space exploration. This week on StarTalk Radio, Neil deGrasse Tyson sits down with Dr. Mae Jemison, MD, former astronaut and principal on the 100 Year Starship. This is the latest in our series of “A Conversation with…” episodes where we break from our normal format to enjoy an uninterrupted conversation with Mae and Neil.

To start, we dive into Mae’s life before she went into space. You’ll learn about her time spent in Africa and her background in engineering. She also had to make a choice between being a doctor and a dancer and it wasn’t until she got her mother’s advice that she knew what path she had to take. You’ll also learn about Mae’s time growing up on the south side of Chicago.

Next, we explore space exploration. You’ll find out more about Mae’s time in space. She was aboard STS-47 (which was the 50^th space shuttle mission) which served as a Spacelab mission. We discuss the termination of the space shuttle program and why it felt like more of an “end” than when the Gemini program ended.

Mae tells us why she was irritated when she first joined the astronaut program. You’ll also hear why Mae thinks we haven’t had humans on Mars yet, and it doesn’t have to do with the technology.

You’ll also get details on Mae’s newest venture – the 100 Year Starship. If you’re unfamiliar with what the 100 Year Starship is, it ‘exists to make the capability of human space exploration travel beyond our solar system a reality within the next 100 years.’ Neil and Mae discuss the challenges that face humans trying to accomplish interstellar travel. All that, plus, find out why projects like these fuel the creativity, innovation, and prosperity for future generations.

Please join us tomorrow night for A Conversation with Dr. Mae Jemison at 7pm ET right here on our website, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, SoundCloud, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn. If you’re an All-Access subscriber, you can listen to this episode ad-free at 7pm, too.

That’s it for now. Keep Looking Up!
-Ian Mullen