When you were talking to a student interested in science and math or engineering, what advice did you give them? Nowadays, I enjoy running, volleyball, softball, and stamp collecting. Fun! What advice would you give to someone who wants to take the same career path as you? It floated! Once I got used to weightlessness, I could do 30 somersaults in a row and slither like a seal from one side of the cabin to the other with just a gentle push.Īnd of course, we couldn't resist playing a little bit with our food - floating a blob of orange juice in the middle of the room and sending peanuts drifting into each others' mouths from across the room. When we first reached orbit, I did what lots of astronauts do: while I was still strapped in my seat, I held my pencil in front of my face and let go of it. The thing I liked best about being in space was being weightless! There's really nothing like it on Earth. Rocketing into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger as the first American woman to fly in space is one of my favorite moments. I know that there are lots of girls out there who are just as interested in science as I was when I was growing up! Tell us about a favorite moment in your career? I wanted to start a company that would create good science programs and materials that would capture girls' imaginations, show both boys and girls a variety of role models (in everything from astrobiology to environmental engineering to rocket science), and encourage them to continue to pursue their interests as they grow older. In 2001 I founded my own company, Sally Ride Science, to pursue my long-time passion of motivating girls and young women to pursue careers in science, math, and technology. I retired from NASA in 1987 after nine years of service. I was a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on June 18, 1983. I am the first American woman to fly in space. I also played a lot of competitive tennis growing up - I loved science, but if I was outside I was playing tennis and so professional tennis player Billie Jean King was one of my role models. (My father had gone through school on the GI Bill, and he wanted to make sure that his daughters knew the importance of education to get ahead in the world.) He was a middle-class, community college teacher in Southern California, and he put a real value on education. Sally Ride was also part of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission.
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