Sally Ride

Sally Ride was born in May of 1951 in California. She grew up playing tennis and wanted to be a professional tennis player but eventually decided that she wanted to go to college. She double majored in physics and arts in English. She later went back to school and got her Master of Science degree and a doctorate in physics.

In 1977, NASA began looking for mission specialists and Sally Ride was selected. She was one of five women in NASA's program in 1978. She was very successful in the program with incredible athletic abilities and intelligence. In 1983, she was one of five astronauts to go onto the Challenger STS-7. On board, she was the flight engineer so she conducted experiments, launched communication satellites, and controlled the shuttle's mechanical arm.

In 1984, Sally Ride went on another mission in the STS-41G where she conducted scientific observations. In 1986, she worked on investigating the Challenger accident and tried to discover what went wrong with that rocket.

Sally Ride broke many records including being the first woman in space and being the youngest person in space at the time. She is also known as the first LGBTIA+ astronaut and had a relationship with Tam O’Shaughnessy. She died in July of 2012 from pancreatic cancer. In 2013, President Obama awarded Sally Ride a Presidential Medal of Freedom after her death.