On June 18, 1983, astronaut Sally Ride made history by becoming the first American woman to travel to space. Born on May 26, 1951, in Los Angeles, Ride had earned bachelor’s degrees in English and physics from Stanford University before obtaining a PhD in physics from the same institution in 1978. Ride’s journey to the stars began when she saw an advertisement for NASA’s astronaut recruitment program, which, for the first time, was open to women. Out of more than 8,000 applicants, Ride was selected as one of six women to join the astronaut program in January 1978.
After completing a year of training and evaluation, Ride was assigned as a mission specialist for the Space Shuttle Challenger’s STS-7 mission. The shuttle launched from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 18, 1983, and the mission lasted six days. During the mission, Ride’s primary responsibility was to operate the robotic arm to deploy communication satellites into space. While Ride was the first American woman in space, she was preceded by two other women in the history of space exploration.
The first woman in space was Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who flew on Vostok 6 in 1963. The second woman in space was Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya, a Russian astronaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982. Despite being the third woman to travel to space overall, Ride made significant contributions to space exploration during her career. She embarked on a second spaceflight in 1984 as part of the STS-41-G mission, spending eight days in space aboard the Challenger.
Ride was slated for a third spaceflight, which was ultimately canceled following the Challenger disaster in 1986. Instead, she joined the Rogers Commission to investigate the causes of the tragic explosion. Ride’s experience in space had a profound impact on her, as she marveled at the fragility and beauty of the Earth’s atmosphere from above. She cherished the feeling of weightlessness and the freedom it afforded her to move in ways impossible on Earth.
After retiring from NASA in 1987, Ride pursued a career in education and founded Sally Ride Science, an organization dedicated to promoting STEM fields among girls. Her influence on future generations of female scientists and astronauts was profound, as evidenced by the impact she had on inspiring young girls to pursue careers in science and space exploration. Ride’s legacy continues to be honored, with her induction into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2003.
Tragically, Ride passed away on July 23, 2012, at the age of 61 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Her contributions to space exploration and dedication to inspiring future generations of scientists and astronauts will forever be remembered. Ride’s lasting legacy includes her advocacy for girls in STEM fields and her commitment to unlocking the mysteries of the universe through education and exploration.
