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Sally Ride is quite an amazing woman because she did something for the first time that no American woman had ever done before. Do you know what she did? Well, let’s just say that Ride took the ride of her life. In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to ever fly into space!

Let’s back up a little. In 1977, Ride decided to answer an ad in the newspaper placed by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), which was looking for young scientists to serve on future space flights. In school she had studied astrophysics, and because of her excellent qualifications, she was one of 208 NASA finalists. After extensive psychiatric evaluations, physical tests, and many interviews, Ride became one of 35 people who were accepted into the program.

During the next year, she went through intensive training which required her to parachute jump, adapt to gravitational pull and weightlessness, and earn her pilot’s license. On June 18, 1983, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Ride geared up and boarded the space shuttle Challenger to fly into space. Hundreds of thousands of spectators showed up that day to cheer Ride on. Her mission on this flight, once the Challenger achieved Earth’s orbit, was to deploy two communications satellites, test out a mechanical arm which would be used to release and retrieve space satellites, and perform and monitor 40 scientific experiments. On June 24, 1983, the Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. In a press conference she was quoted as saying, “the thing I’ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I’m sure it was the most fun that I’ll ever have in my life.” This was a truly exciting day for everyone, especially for women, because it marked another day when a woman was being recognized for her skills and intelligence. Because of her time in space, she became one of the most respected women in the world and a symbol of hope and progress for women. In 1989 she was named the Director of the California Space Institute and Professor of Physics at the University of California, San Diego. It is here today that she still continues to encourage young women to study math and science and make the most of themselves.