Sally Ride became the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on this date in 1983. The flight (STS-7) lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 11:33 UTC and flew over 2.5 million miles in six days. During this historic flight, the crew launched three satellites and conducted dozens of other scientific and medical experiments. Dr. Ride flew on one more Space Shuttle mission (STS-41G) before retiring from NASA and teaching physics at the University of California, San Diego. She also worked for the Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control. In 2001 Dr. Ride established Sally Ride Science to provide students and teachers with science, technology, engineering, and math training and tools.
~Florida Historical Society
