Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on June 18, 1983, breaking barriers for women to pursue careers in STEM fields.
On the 40th anniversary of Ride's historic flight into space, her legacy has had lasting effects on improving science education and helping young women embrace an interest in space-related studies. Ride served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the early '80s, making her the third woman overall in space.
NASA opened its applications for women seeking to travel in space for female scientists and engineers, and Ride applied while completing her Ph.D. Ride was one of five other women selected by the space agency to join a group of new astronaut trainees, according to UC San Diego. “The fact that I was going to be the first American woman to go into space carried huge expectations along with it,” Ride said in an interview honoring the 25th anniversary of her first ride, published by NASA in 2008.
Ride completed a second Space Shuttle mission in 1984. Deploying from the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, the crew of seven made observations to advance satellite refueling techniques during an eight-day mission. One other woman astronaut, Kathryn Sullivan, was aboard the spacecraft. Sullivan became the first American woman to walk in space during that mission, which deployed the Hubble Space Telescope, according to UC San Diego.
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