First one of my personal favourites, Mae Jemison!
Born Mae Carol
Jemison on October 17
th, 1956. Dr. Jamison has quite an impressive list of achievements under her belt!
Jamison entered entered Stanford University at age 16, yes that's 16 years young
She B.S. in chemical engineering and had fulfilled the requirements for a B.A. in African and Afro-American Studies.
She graduated from Weill Medical College of Cornell University with a Doctor of Medicine degree
and worked as a general practitioner.
She traveled to Cuba, Kenya and Thailand, to provide primary medical care to people living there.
She took lessons in African dancing, ballet, jazz, modern & Japanese dancing and even choreographed and produced several shows of modern jazz and African dance.
In addition to her native English, Dr. Jemison speaks fluent Russian, Japanese, and Swahili.
Joined the staff of the Peace Corps and served as a Peace Corps Medical Officer from 1983 to 1985 responsible for the health of Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
She then applied to NASA in 1987 and was first rejected, then accepted on her second application.
NASA Mission:
International Flight-No. 151
STS-47Endeavour
Shannon Lucid
Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid was born on the 14th of January, 1943 is a biochemist & NASA astronaut. At one time, she held the record for the longest duration stay in space by a woman. Title that is currently being held by Suni Williams. She has flown in space five times including a prolonged mission aboard the Mir space station.
Dr. Lucid obtained her Bachelor of science in chemistry from the University of Oklahoma, 1963; her master of science and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Oklahoma, 1970 and 1973, respectively. Her hobbies include Flying, camping, hiking & reading. Since 2002 until September 2003 chief scientist at NASA Headquarters; in September 2003 she returned to the Johnson Space Center in Houston to assist the agency's Return to Flight efforts.
NASA Missions:
No. Mission Job Time Duration
1 STS-51G MSP 17.06. - 24.06.1985 7d 01h 38m
2 STS-34 MSP 18.10. - 23.10.1989 4d 23h 39m
3 STS-43 MSP 02.08. - 11.08.1991 8d 21h 21m
4 STS-58 MSP 18.10. - 01.11.1993 14d 00h 12m
5 STS-76 / MIR-21 / MIR-22 / STS-79
Total 223d 02h 50m
How impressive is that? Giving birth to three children in between training for and conducting 5 missions. Super mom & Super astronaut!!!
Sunita Williams
Sunita Williams was born on September 19th , 1965. She is a US Naval officer and a NASA astronaut. She was assigned to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14 and then joined Expedition 15. She holds the record of the longest spaceflight (195 days) for female space travelers. As NASA's official public spokesperson, she was selected to appear on the Colbert Report to announce the name for Node 3 of the ISS. Isn't that cool? :PWilliams was born Sunita Pandya; she achieved her bachelor of science in physical science from U.S. Naval Academy in 1987, her master of science in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology, 1995. She is Captain, USN; Aircraft Handler on USS Saipan, Norfolk. Her hobbies include Running, swimming, biking, triathlons, windsurfing, snowboarding & bow hunting. She currently holds the position of Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
Suni Williams served as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station. She launched with the crew of STS-116 on December 9, 2006, docking with the station on December 11, 2006. As a member of the Expedition-14 crew Suni Williams established a world record for females with four spacewalks totaling 29 hours and 17 minutes of EVA. (Astronaut Peggy Whitson subsequently broke the record in 2008 with her five total spacewalks). Williams concluded her tour of duty as a member of the Expedition-15 crew returning to Earth with the STS-117 crew to land at Edwards Air Force Base on June 22, 2007. During her increment in space, Suni Williams broke the existing record by Shannon Lucid, setting a new record for females of 195 days in space.
Rita Levi Montalcini
Rita Levi-
Montalcini, born April 22, 1909 & is an Italian Nobel Prize-winning scientist.
She was born in 1936 & graduated from medical school with a summa cum laude degree in Medicine and Surgery, and enrolled in the three year specialization in neurology and psychiatry.
She shared the 1986 Nobel
Prize for Medicine with American Stanley Cohen for discovering mechanisms that regulate the growth of cells and organs.
The Turin-born Levi Montalcini recounted how the anti-Jewish laws of the 1930s under Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime forced her to quit university and do research in an improvised laboratory in her bedroom at home.
"Above all, don't fear difficult moments," she said. "The best comes from them."
Awards and honors
In 1968, she became the tenth woman elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences.
In 1983, she was awarded the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University together with Stanley Cohen (co-winner of 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine) and Viktor Hamburger.
In 1986 Levi-Montalcini and collaborator Stanley Cohen received the Nobel Prize in Medicine, as well as the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. This made her the fourth Nobel Prize winner to come from Italy's small (<50,000) id="SPELLING_ERROR_42" class="blsp-spelling-error">Segrè, Salvador Luria (a university colleague and friend) and Franco Modigliani.
In 1987, she received the National Medal of Science, the highest honor in the scientific world of America.
In 2001 she was nominated Senator-for-life by Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
In 2008 she received the PhD Honoris Causa from the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain.
And at almost 100 (her birthday is two days away!) She is still happily working, what a great mind!
SciFi freaks & Science geeks
History buffs & mad Inventors 
Environmentalists - Humanitarians & Animal protectors 
Archaeologists & Athletes on a mission 
Pilots & Aviators 
Medical professionals & Citizens of the world
So, 2009 is turning out to be an interesting year for space flight. I am so excited about the kepler mission! The kepler space telescope is named after this guy:
Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630) was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer, and key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution.
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