R is for Sally Ride – Physicist and Astronaut
Dr. Sally Ride (1951 – 2012) recieved her Ph.D. in Physics from Stanford University in 1978. She joined the NASA space program that same year.
Dr. Ride flew in two space shuttle missions, STS-7, STS-41-G. To date, she is still the youngest American to ever fly to space. She was training for her third mission when the Challenger disaster occurred.
In 1987, Dr. Ride left NASA. In 2012 she co-founded Sally Ride Science, a program to inspire young people – especially girls – into careers in STEM fields.
You can learn more about Sally Ride here.
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