The First American Woman in Space: 34 Amazing Photos of a Young Sally Ride From Between the Late 1970s and 1980s

Dr. Sally Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American physicist, trailblazing astronaut, and educator who made history on June 18, 1983, as the first American woman to fly in space. At 32 years old, she was also the youngest American astronaut to travel to space at that time. While she was the first American woman to break this barrier, she was preceded globally by Soviet cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982).

Born in Los Angeles, Ride was an exceptionally gifted athlete and a nationally ranked junior tennis player. She briefly considered a professional tennis career but ultimately chose to pursue her passion for science. She attended Stanford University, where she earned a unique double bachelor's degree in physics and English literature, followed by a master's degree and a Ph.D. in astrophysics (1978), specializing in laser physics and how X-rays interact with interstellar mediums.

In 1977, Ride saw an ad in the Stanford student newspaper announcing that NASA was recruiting scientists and “mission specialists” for its new Space Shuttle program, and for the first time, opening the doors to women. She beat out more than 8,000 applicants to become one of six women selected for NASA’s historic Class of '78.

On June 18, 1983, she launched aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. As a mission specialist and flight engineer, she helped deploy communications satellites and became the first person to use the shuttle’s robotic arm to retrieve a satellite in orbit. She returned to space in 1984, again aboard Challenger, logging a career total of more than 343 hours in space.

Ride earned immense respect for her analytical mind. She holds the unique distinction of being the only person appointed to serve on both presidential investigation boards for NASA’s space shuttle disasters: the Challenger explosion in 1986 and the Columbia crash in 2003.

Ride retired from NASA in 1987 and returned to academia, becoming a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and director of the California Space Science Institute.

Driven by a passion to narrow the gender gap in science, she co-founded Sally Ride Science in 2001, an organization dedicated to creating narrow-interest STEM programs, books, and materials for elementary and middle school students, specifically focusing on keeping young girls engaged in math and science.

Following her death from pancreatic cancer in 2012 at age 61, her obituary revealed she had been in a loving 27-year relationship with her partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy. This posthumously made Ride the first known LGBTQ+ astronaut in history.

In 2013, President Barack Obama posthumously awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.