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Introduction Sally Kristen Ride (born May 26, 1951) was an American astronaut who worked at NASA from 1977-1987. She was the first female, American astronaut to launch into space. She was a part of the NASA class of 1978 along with 34 other astronauts with six of them being women including Sally Ride. In total, eight thousand people were in the running with one thousand applicants being women. Her life at NASA and contributions to science tore down walls and opened up more opportunities for women and little girls around the world.

Biography Sally Ride was born in the city of Encino, California to Carol Joyce and Dale Burdell Ride. Sally and her younger sister, Karen, had a great relationship growing up. The Ride family had a very wonderful household. By the time of age ten, Sally Ride had taken up the sport of tennis and grew quite fond of it. She became a very prodigious tennis player and even won scholarship to Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles. Throughout this time, she came to be growing more skillfully in tennis and eventually ranked in the top twenty nationally of the junior tennis circuit. After her career in high school, Ride started playing at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. During her sophomore year, Ride decided to play professionally and dropped out of college to do so. Three months after she made the decision, she looked at college to be the better option and though an education more useful. She enrolled at Stanford University majoring in physics and English. She received a degree in physics and English in 1973. Continuing her academic career in physics, she eventually earned her Master’s degree in 1975 and later her doctorate degree in 1978. However, in 1977 she saw an ad from NASA in the newspaper and her career soon began. With training in parachuting and water survival along with being taught certain scientific subjects, Ride was ready to become an astronaut. She worked on a variety of projects and helped gather vast amounts of information about space. However, no mission compared to the one she took on June 18, 1983. She became not only the first female, but also the youngest American to ever set foot in space. This mission was a week long in length. She operated as the flight engineer on the mission and performed her role well. Away from her career at NASA, Ride married Steve Hawley in 1982 and divorced him in 1987. On July 23, 2012 she passed away after fighting pancreatic cancer for seventeen months. She was sixty-one years old at the time of her death. It was later revealed that Sally Ride was gay and had a twenty-seven year relationship with a woman by the Tam O’Shaughnessy. They met as children and became open about their relationship together and also as business partners.

Advancements in Science Sally Ride is a very decorated scientist and astronaut who has given much to so many different people. As mentioned previously, she served as a flight engineer on her first shuttle mission aboard the Challenger STS-7 with four other crew members. She launched two different satellites into outer space to collect information beneficial to NASA. She also conducted some experiments while on this mission. On October 5, 1984, Ride went on another mission aboard the STS-41G. The mission lasted eight weeks and she collected more information and made scientific observations about Earth. After her investigation of the 1986 Challenger accident, she was promoted as the special assistant to NASA administrator for long-range and strategic planning. After her career at NASA, Ride began serving as Director at the California Space Science Institute. She was also a physicist and a physics professor. She eventually became a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. In 2001, Ride founded Sally Ride Science which was designated to help boys and girls develop a deeper interest in science, math, and all things technological. She was the President and CEO during her tenure.

Fun Facts •	Besides being the first American woman in space, Sally Ride was also the first gay astronaut in space. •	Sally Ride wrote seven children’s books that are outer-space themed. •	Sally Ride formed a company called Imaginary Lines that was dedicated for students in grades five through eight that covered an assortment of activities. •	In 2013, President Barack Obama awarded Sally Kristen Ride with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. •	Sally Ride was given the NASA Space Flight Medal. •	Sally Ride was given the NCAA’s Theodore Roosevelt Award. •	Sally Ride received the von Braun award as well as the Jefferson Award for Public Service. •	Sally Ride was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame as well as the Astronaut Hall of Fame. •	After Ride’s second trip into space, she had clocked in a total of three hundred and forty-three hours into space.

Bibliography Sally Ride Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://softschools.com/facts/scientists/sally_ride_facts/1893/

Anderson, A. (n.d.). Sally Ride. Retrieved from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sally-ride

Sally Ride. (2020, February 28). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/astronaut/sally-ride