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Sally K. Ride Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

SALLY K. RIDE
Born: May 26, 1951 in Los Angeles, California
Died: July 23, 2012 in La Jolla, California
Biography | show moreshow less
Sally K. Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in Los Angeles, California and she became the first American woman to travel into space when she flew aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-7 in June 1983.

Prior to her selection by NASA in 1978, Ride earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Stanford University in 1973, followed by a Master’s degree (1975) and a Ph.D. in Physics (1978), also from Stanford. Her doctoral research focused on astrophysics and free electron lasers.

Ride’s role on STS-7 included operating the shuttle’s robotic arm to deploy satellites, making her the first woman to use the Remote Manipulator System in space. She later flew on a second shuttle mission, STS-41-G, in 1984. She was scheduled for a third flight, but it was canceled following the Challenger disaster in 1986.

Following her retirement from NASA in 1987, Ride joined Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control and later became a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. She also served as director of the California Space Institute. In both the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disaster investigations, Ride was appointed to the presidential commissions, the only person to serve on both panels. In 2001, she co-founded Sally Ride Science, an educational organization focused on promoting STEM education, particularly for girls. Throughout her career, she authored several children’s science books and advocated for improved science education and space exploration.
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