Sally Ride

In 2001, she founded the company ‘Sally Ride Science’, which has given a lot of direct and indirect support to young girls and women who want to pursue science.

She died of pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012.

Sally Ride was born in Los Angeles, California to Dale Burdell Ride, a political science professor and Carol Joyce Ride, a counsellor. She grew up in Encino, an affluent neighbourhood in the San Fernando Valley.

From a very young age, she took interest in both science and sports, which her parents encouraged. She studied in Portola Junior High School, where she earned a tennis scholarship to ‘Westlake School for Girls’. She played in a lot of junior tennis tournaments at the national level.

She joined the ‘Swarthmore College’ in Pennsylvania. After three semesters, she quit the college to pursue a professional tennis career. However, after 3 months of rigorous training, she decided to return to academics and joined ‘Stanford University’ in ‘Palo Alto’, California.

In 1973, she received a ‘Bachelor of Science’ degree in Physics and a ‘Bachelor of Arts’ degree in English. Two years later, she also obtained a ‘Master of Science’ degree at Stanford itself, after which she began to pursue her doctorate.

In 1977, in response to a newspaper advertisement, Ride applied for NASA’s space program. The next year, she became one of the 35 applicants selected for the program out of the 8000 who had applied.

From 1978 to 1979, she underwent a demanding training which included parachute jumping, water survival, gravity and weightlessness training, radio communications, navigation and flight instruction.

After completing her training, she worked as an ‘on-orbit capsule communicator’ for the second and third shuttle flights, ‘STS-2’ and ‘STS-3’ respectively. She was also a part of the team that fabricated the mechanical robot arm.

In 1983, Ride was selected as the ‘Mission Specialist’ for the seventh shuttle flight, ‘STS-7’, aboard the ‘Challenger’ space shuttle. Ride created history by becoming the first American woman and third overall, to travel to space as an astronaut. The six-day mission generated much media attention due to Ride’s presence.

She went on another space flight in 1984, again on the ‘Challenger’ space shuttle. This mission lasted for nine days and had a larger crew of seven members.

In 1983, when the ‘Challenger’ space shuttle took off, Sally Ride became the first American woman to travel in space. This historic feat had far-reaching implications as she inspired many women to venture into a field which was previously open only to men.

She went on another space mission in 1984 with a different set of objectives, this time with a bigger crew. During the flight, Ride used the robotic arm to remove ice from the shuttle’s outer body and adjust an antenna.

In 2001, she founded ‘Sally Ride Science’, a company that makes engaging science-related classroom programs and publications for school students in USA, especially girls, and provides training for teachers. Ride even quit her job at ‘Stanford University’ to focus on her role as the CEO of this company.