Sally Ride - Wikipedia

Sally Ride — First American Woman in Space

Sally Ride became the first American woman to travel to space, launching aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-7. A physicist by training, Ride was selected for NASA's astronaut programme in 1978 and went on to fly two shuttle missions. After leaving NASA, she became a physics professor at the University of California, San Diego and founded Sally Ride Science, a company dedicated to inspiring young people — especially girls — to pursue STEM careers. Ride's 27-year relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy, a childhood friend and fellow scientist, was only revealed in her obituary when she died of pancreatic cancer in 2012 aged 61.