June 18, 1983: Sally Ride is the first American woman in space

Sally Ride made history aboard the space shuttle Challenger On June 18, 1983, becoming the first American woman in the 20 -year -old space almost a day after the Soviet flight of Valentina Terehkova. In 1977, while his research doctorate was finishing. In physics, Ride saw a newspaper announcement posted by NASA to recruit astronauts. For the first time, women were authorized to apply. It was selected by 8,000 candidates and has crossed a large training, including the jump of the parachute, the survival of the water and the adaptation to the lack of gravity; He also contributed to the development of the shuttle robot of the shuttle and worked as a capsule communicator. During his mission, Ride operated the mechanical arm, he lined up communication satellites and conducted experiments. A very private person, however, managed his fame and his inappropriate questions – as which makeup was taking in space and if he would have cried if something had gone wrong – with humor and grace. To continue inspiring girls to pursue Stem careers, Ride co-founded Sally Ride Science in 2001. She died in 2012.

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