Sally Ride

Sally Ride (born May 26, 1951) is a physicist and was the first American woman in space, she was also the third woman ever in space.

Ride received a PhD in physics at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. At Stanford she researched astrophysics, general relativity, and free-electron laser physics. She later became the first American woman in space as part of a 1983 Space Shuttle Challenger crew of STS-7.

In 1987, Ride left NASA to work at the Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control. Currently she is a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego.

Ride is the only person to serve on the two panels that investigated the two space shuttle accidents.

She occasionally appears on television, in shows or commercials. She is the author of several children's books about space exploration.