Sally Ride Biography

 Every Sally Ride biography mentions her prominence in the history of astronauts, but there is much more to Sally Ride. Born in 1951 in Los Angeles, Calif., Sally Ride became received both a BA in physics and a BA in English from Stanford University in 1973, five years after graduating from high school. She received a Ph.D in physics in 1978. That same years, she was selected by NASA for astronaut training. 

After a year of training and positive evaluations, Sally Ride became eligible to become a mission specialist on the Space Shuttle. Her first two missions were performed as an on-orbit capsule communicator. Her third and fourth missions, in 1983 and 1984, were performed as a mission specialist. She was slated to fly another mission in 1986, but the mission plans were scraped after seven people were killed in the Challenger accident.

After serving on the  Presidential Commission in charge of investigating the Challenger accident, NASA appointed her the Special Assistant to the Administrator. She was then involved in strategic planning for the organization. She left NASA in 1989 and became a physics professor at the University of California and the director of its Space Institute. 

A tennis enthusiast, Sally Ride has been a tennis instructor and a competitive player. As a junior, she was nationally ranked as a player. She also enjoys softball, volleyball and running. She is an avid stamp collector ad has written five books for children about science and is an advocate for science education.