Ride flew in space twice, both times on Challenger, in 1983 and on October 5, 1984, logging 343 hours in space. “I didn’t really think about it that much at the time - but I came to appreciate what an honor it was to be selected to be the first to get a chance to go into space.” “On launch day, there was so much excitement and so much happening around us in crew quarters, even on the way to the launch pad,” Ride recalled in a NASA interview for the 25th anniversary of her flight in 2008. Her first flight came two decades after the Soviets sent a woman into space and less than a year after a second Soviet woman flew. Ride beat out fellow astronaut candidates to be the first American female in space. In 1978, NASA included women in the astronaut corps, selecting Ride and five other women to join the club, which had been dominated by male military test pilots. She had also been a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. Ride was a physicist, writer of five science books for children and president of her own company, which motivates youngsters to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. “The nation has lost one of its finest leaders, teachers and explorers,” he said in a statement. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said Ride “broke barriers with grace and professionalism - and literally changed the face of America’s space program.” ![]() When Ride first launched into space, feminist icons such as Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda were at Kennedy Space Center and many wore T-shirts alluding to the pop song with the refrain of the same name: “Ride, Sally Ride.” “She never sought media attention for herself, but rather focused on doing her normally outstanding job.” “People around the world still recognize her name as the first American woman in space, and she took that title seriously even after departing NASA,” Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander, said in a statement. ![]() When shuttles started flying frequently with crews of six or seven, astronauts became plentiful and anonymous. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. Since then, 42 other American women followed her into space. ![]() Ride flew into space on the space shuttle Challenger on June 18, 1983, when she was 32. Ride, the first American woman in orbit, died Monday at her home in the San Diego community of La Jolla at age 61 of pancreatic cancer, according to her company, Sally Ride Science.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |