Alabama has a long and storied history with the U.S. space program, beginning in the earliest days of the program by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to reach the Moon. Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Space Flight Center were integral partners in the invention of the rockets that carried humans into space and the vehicles and equipment they used there. NASA's efforts sparked the imaginations of schoolchildren throughout the nation, including in Alabama. As a result, several of its natives were inspired to become astronauts, including Mae Carol Jemison (shown in the image at left with fellow astronaut Jan Davis), the first African American woman in space. Alabama continues its relationship with innovations in human spaceflight, and surely more of its citizens will participate in that effort.