May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012
Sally Kristen Ride was a celebrated American physicist whose work with X-rays – particularly their relative abilities and behavior in interstellar space – led to her being named as an astronaut in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Ride was selected as part of the first class of Space Shuttle astronauts, or “Group 8.”
Group 8 was notable, not only because of the Shuttle program, but for the fact that it was the first astronaut class to include women and minorities. Including Ride, there were a total of 6 women in the cohort of 35. All 6 would eventually fly in space, but someone had to be first.
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