Ride Sally Ride

Sally Ride was the first American woman astronaut to go into space. Dr. Ride was a mission specialist aboard the space shuttle "Challenger". The Challenger was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on June 18, 1983. However, she was not the first woman in space as this had been accomplished twice by the USSR.

Sally Ride was born on May 26, 1951 in Los Angeles California.She had one sister. Rides family was religious at core with her sister becoming a minister and her family working at counseling etc.. Ride was naturally interested in science as well as sports. She was a nationally ranked tennis player. Sally would earn bachelors degree and answer an ad in the Stanford Student Newspaper seeking those interested in the space program. Out of 8000 individuals she was chosen to join NASA in 1978 Ride would serve as the ground based capsule communicator for the space shuttle flights. She would also help develop the space shuttle's "Canadarm" robot arm.

Because she was female she would draw lots of media attention. She did not allow the media stress to affect her as she looked at herself simply as an astronaut. June 18, 1983 she would become the first American woman in space as a crew member on space shuttle Challenger. She would be the youngest American to enter space at the age of 32. Sally Ride was the first woman to use the robot arm in space as she retrieved a satellite.

In 1984 Sally Ride would once again go back to space on the Challenger. All total Ride would have 343 hours in space. When the Challenger disaster happened Sally Ride headed a subcommittee on operations. She was assigned to NASA headquarters in Washington D.C. In 1987 Ride would leave her position in Washington D.C.