1. Sally Ride First American Woman in Space
Reba Jiles

2. My interest in Sally Ride
My interest in Sally Ride began with the name, honestly. The first thing that came to mind was “Ride, Sally Ride”! Oddly enough, that is what thousands of people put on t-shirts when they went to watch Sally Ride fly off into space. However, after the fascination of her name drew to a close, I noticed that Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Then, the real interest began. Being a woman in a “man’s world” is not very easy; however, Sally Ride took the space shuttle by the engines and flew. She was unaffected by the fact that she was going into a job that had only been done by men, and she excelled at the task. Although, Sally Ride was unaware that being the first American woman in space would break down barriers for many other women in science.

3. Where did she come from?
Sally Kristen Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in Encino, California.
She has one sister, named Karen.
As a child, she very much enjoyed tennis, swimming and golf. She was a very active little girl who loved playing outside.
Her favorite subjects were Math and Science, and her least favorite were English and History. Oddly enough, she did not like being called on in class and was shy.

4. Education / Training
Straight out of high school, Sally attended Swarthmore College for a year. Then she dropped out in hopes of becoming a professional tennis player. (1968)
Three months later, she transferred to Stanford University and earned her B.S. in Physics and B.A. English, 1973.
She then followed that with a Ph.D. in Astrophysics, 1978.
After joining NASA in 1977 Ride underwent extensive training that included parachute jumping, water survival, gravity and weightlessness training, radio communications, flight training and navigation training.

5. Major Accomplishments
Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on the shuttle Challenger (STS-7) on June 18, 1983.
Her next flight was an eight-day mission on the Challenger (STS 41-G) on October 5, 1984.
On both trips, she was a spacecraft commander.

6. Role model?
Absolutely!! “I decided that it was worth my time to try to have some impact on that, and try to, first, help change the culture and make the culture realize that the girls are out there, that if we want scientists and engineers in the future, we should be cultivating the girls as much as the boys, and that we needed to be able to give girls in middle school, high school and college the same opportunities that we give to boys. So I have put in a lot of time creating programs for girls, particularly in middle school, to just keep them engaged and introduce them to role models, show them that whether they want to be a rocket scientist or a geochemist or a microbiologist, that there are women who are now actively involved in those careers and who love what they do. I think it's slowly but surely having an impact.’’ –Sally Ride

7. Fun facts!
Sally won a tennis scholarship to Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles.
Sally Ride applied to be an astronaut on an impulse after she saw that NASA was taking applications for astronauts in a student ad in the newspaper!
Out of 8,000 applications, 35 were chosen, go Sally!
Total time in space: 14 days, 7 hours and 46 minutes.
Sally Ride now teaches Physics at the University of California, San Diego

8. Bibliography (Information)
"Astronaut Bio: Sally K. Ride." NASA - Johnson Space Center. July Web. 13 Sept <
"Sally Kristen Ride | First American Woman in Space." Lucidcafé Interactive Café and Information Resource. Web. 13 Sept <
"Sally Ride Interview -- Academy of Achievement." Academy of Achievement Main Menu. 2 June Web. 13 Sept <
Woodside, Sara. "The My Hero Project - Sally Ride." The MY HERO Project. 10 Nov Web Sept <

9. Bibliography (Pictures)