Take a Flight with Sally Ride
Have you learned about Sally Ride? Ride was the first woman to make it to space. During her lifetime, she pushed to get other women to also follow in her footsteps. Unfortunately, she lost her life in 2012 but continues to make an impact.
Ride was born in May of 1951 and fell in love with tennis as a child. As she continued to grow and develop in her sport, she wanted to pursue a career in tennis professionally. But after a few years, Ride made the decision that college was a better option. She enrolled at Stanford University and received her Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Bachelor of Arts in English. After graduating, Ride applied and was accepted into NASA’s astronaut program. After learning and growing through the program, the day she would make history finally came. In 1983, Ride went aboard the space shuttle, the Challenger, and became the first American woman to go into space. She then again took another trip to space the next year and although she did not make her third trip she still made a difference in the industry.
After leaving NASA, Ride then went on to teach as a professor of physics and the director of the California Space Institute at the University of California. She took her experiences and built a business to inspire young girls interested in science and the space industry. Sally Ride Science was created to get young girls and women to pursue their love for both and science within their careers.
Unfortunately, after years of awards and recognition throughout NASA, Ride passed away at the age of 61 in 2012. Ride battled pancreatic cancer for 17 months until her passing on July 23.
