Sally Ride was born in 1951 and was a talented athlete. She graduated from Stanford University with degrees in physics and English and went on to earn a Ph.D. in astrophysics. Sally applied to be an astronaut in 1977 after NASA announced it was looking for mission specialists. Sally was one of six women chosen in addition to 29 men. Sally became the first American woman in space in 1983 when she was chosen as a mission specialist on the Challenger.
Sally went into space one more time in 1984 and became a member of the presidential commission looking into the Challenger Explosion. The Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control offered Sally a fellowship and she left NASA in 1987. Sally founded Sally Ride Science™ in 2001 to support girls’ and boys’ interests in science, math and technology.
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