{"id":41341,"date":"2014-06-18T20:18:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T00:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?migration=converted-node-360084"},"modified":"2024-06-03T12:05:10","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T16:05:10","slug":"who-was-sally-ride-grades-5-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/learning-resources\/for-kids-and-students\/who-was-sally-ride-grades-5-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Was Sally Ride? (Grades 5-8)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>This article is part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/audience\/forstudents\/5-8\/features\/nasa-knows\/index.html\">NASA Knows! (Grades 5-8)<\/a> series.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sally Ride was the first American woman to fly in space. She was the founder of Sally Ride Science and the Sally Ride Science Festivals. She liked to run and play tennis, volleyball and softball. Ride wrote several science books for children. The books are about space exploration, Earth and the solar system.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=1536&h=1920&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint\" rel=\"noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=1536&h=1920&fit=clip&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 53% 29%; object-position: 53% 29%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=1536&h=1920&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1536w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=240&h=300&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 240w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=768&h=960&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 768w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=819&h=1024&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 819w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=1229&h=1536&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 1229w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=320&h=400&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 320w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=480&h=600&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 480w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=720&h=900&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 720w, https:\/\/images-assets.nasa.gov\/image\/S84-37256\/S84-37256~large.jpg?w=960&h=1200&fit=crop&crop=faces%2Cfocalpoint 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Was Sally Ride\u2019s Early Life Like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sally Ride was born May 26, 1951, in Los Angeles, Calif. After high school, she attended Stanford University in California. She earned bachelor\u2019s, master\u2019s and doctorate degrees in physics. Physics is the study of matter and energy and how they interact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How Did Sally Ride Become an Astronaut?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Sally Ride applied to be an astronaut in 1977. It was the first time that women were invited to apply to the astronaut program. Ride was a college student and saw an advertisement that NASA was looking for women astronauts. She was one of six women selected to the astronaut corps in 1978.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>What Did Sally Ride Do as an Astronaut?<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On June 18,1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. She was a mission specialist on the STS-7 space shuttle mission. A mission specialist does the assigned tasks of a mission. These tasks include using the robotic arm, going on spacewalks and doing science experiments. During her flight, Ride worked the robotic arm to help release satellites into space. She flew on the space shuttle again in 1984 on the STS 41-G mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2003, Ride was inducted to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The Astronaut Hall of Fame honors astronauts for their accomplishments in spaceflight. She was awarded the 2012 National Space Grant Distinguished Service Award.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/image-article\/june-18-1983-launch-of-sts-7-2\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1041\" height=\"1041\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?w=1041\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"June 18, 1983 Launch of STS-7\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 54% 67%; object-position: 54% 67%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg 1041w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=150,150 150w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=300,300 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=768,768 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=1024,1024 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=50,50 50w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=100,100 100w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=200,200 200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=400,400 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=600,600 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/s07-05-279.jpg?resize=900,900 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1041px) 100vw, 1041px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What Did Sally Ride Do After Leaving NASA?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ride retired from NASA in 1987. She became a professor at the University of California San Diego. She also looked for new ways to encourage women and girls to study science and mathematics. She came up with the idea for NASA\u2019s EarthKAM project. The project lets middle school students select, shoot, download and study photos of Earth using a camera on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Until her death on July 23, 2012, Ride continued to help students \u2013 especially girls \u2013 study science and mathematics. She wrote science books and other things for students and teachers. She was involved in science programs and festivals around the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1278\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"Sally Ride (1951-2012)\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg 4144w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=300,187 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=768,479 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=1024,639 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=1536,958 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=2048,1278 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=400,250 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=600,374 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=900,561 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=1200,749 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/670498main_sally_ride_full.jpg?resize=2000,1248 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>More About Sally Ride<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/wyM4wP41jgQ\" rel=\"noopener\">Video: Sally Ride Anniversary<\/a><br> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space\">Sally Ride: First American Woman in Space<\/a><br> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/ride_sally.pdf?emrc=eb3915\">Sally Ride Bio (PDF) <\/a><br> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.earthkam.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Sally Ride EarthKAM<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/audience\/forstudents\/k-4\/stories\/nasa-knows\/who-was-sally-ride-k4.html\">Who Was Sally Ride? (Grades K-4)<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/earthkam.ucsd.edu\/\" rel=\"noopener\"> <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"nasa-gb-align-center nasa-button-link padding-y-1 padding-x-0 hds-module wp-block-nasa-blocks-related-link\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/learning-resources\/for-students-grades-5-8\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"button-primary button-primary-md link-external-true\" aria-label=\"Explore More For Students 5-8\">\n\t\t<span class=\"line-height-alt-1\">Explore More For Students 5-8<\/span>\n\t\t<svg viewBox=\"0 0 32 32\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><circle class=\"button-primary-circle\" cx=\"16\" cy=\"16\" r=\"16\"><\/circle><path d=\"M8 16.956h12.604l-3.844 4.106 1.252 1.338L24 16l-5.988-6.4-1.252 1.338 3.844 4.106H8v1.912z\" class=\"color-spacesuit-white\"><\/path><\/svg>\n\t<\/a>\n\n\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article is part of the NASA Knows! (Grades 5-8) series. Sally Ride was the first American woman to fly in space. She was the founder of Sally Ride Science and the Sally Ride Science Festivals. She liked to run and play tennis, volleyball and softball. Ride wrote several science books for children. The books are about [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":48838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2849,3777,3291],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[12657],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Who Was Sally Ride? (Grades 5-8)","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/learning-resources\/for-kids-and-students\/who-was-sally-ride-grades-5-8\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/learning-resources\/for-kids-and-students\/who-was-sally-ride-grades-5-8\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/edu_who_was_sally_ride_0.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/edu_who_was_sally_ride_0.jpg"},"articleSection":"Learning Resources","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NASA STEM Team"}],"creator":["NASA STEM Team"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["Learning Resources","For Kids and Students","Grades 5 - 8","Explore"],"dateCreated":"2014-06-19T00:18:00Z","datePublished":"2014-06-19T00:18:00Z","dateModified":"2024-06-03T16:05:10Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"Who Was Sally Ride? (Grades 5-8)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/learning-resources\/for-kids-and-students\/who-was-sally-ride-grades-5-8\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/edu_who_was_sally_ride_0.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2014-06-19T00:18:00Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"Learning Resources\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"Learning Resources,For Kids and Students,Grades 5 - 8,Explore\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"NASA STEM Team\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":3,"time_ago":"10 years","featured_image":{"id":48838,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/edu_who_was_sally_ride_0.jpg","title":"edu_who_was_sally_ride_0","alt":"Ride floating on the flight deck of the space shuttle","caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41341"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667475,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41341\/revisions\/667475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41341"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=41341"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=41341"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=41341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}