Sally Ride

(1951-2012)  An American astronaut who went through NASA’s rigorous training program and into space and the record books in 1983. On June 18, Ride became the first American woman in space, aboard the space shuttle Challenger. As a mission specialist, she helped deploy satellites and worked other projects. The next year, Ride again served as a mission specialist on a space shuttle flight in October.

After the space shuttle Challenger accident, Ride served on the presidential commission that investigated the space shuttle explosion and became the director of the California Space Institute and a professor of physics at the University of California. In 2001, Ride started a company to create educational programs and products to help inspire girls and young women to pursue their interests in science and math.