7th Space Shuttle Mission 2nd Flight of Challenger Robert L. Crippen, Commander Frederick H. Hauck, Pilot John M. Fabian, Mission Specialist Sally K. Ride, Mission Specialist Norman E. Thagard, Mission Specialist Launch - June 18, 1983 at 7:33:00 a.m. EDT Landing - June 24, 1983, 6:56:59 a.m. PDT Sally K. Ride became first American woman to fly in space. Two communications satellites deployed, ANIK C-2 for TELESAT Canada and PALAPA-B1 for Indonesia, both attached to Payload Assist Module-D (PAM-D) motors. Seven Get Away Special canisters in cargo bay held variety of experiments including ones studying effects of space on social behavior of ant colony in zero gravity. Ten experiments mounted on Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01) performed research in forming metal alloys in microgravity and use of remote sensing scanner. Orbiter's small control rockets fired while SPAS-01 held by remote manipulator system to test movement on extended arm. Experiments to investigate space sickness carried out. Other payloads: Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications-2 (OSTA-2); Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES); Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR); and one Shuttle Student Involvement (SSIP) experiment. Sally Ride was born on May 26, 1951 in Los Angeles, California. As a young girl, she wanted to become a professional tennis player and, at one time, was a ranked player on the junior tennis circuit. She attended Stanford University where she earned four degrees: Bachelor of Arts in English, Bachelor of Science in Physics, Masters in Physics and a Ph.D. in Physics. Dr. Ride applied to the astronaut program after reading an ad in a newspaper. More than 8,000 men and women applied to the space program that year. Of the 35 individuals accepted, six were women. One was Sally Ride. She was accepted into the astronaut corps in 1978 and completed her training as a mission specialist in 1979. On June 18,1983 she became the first American woman to orbit Earth when she flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger. Her second flight was also aboard Challenger in 1984. Dr. Ride was a member of the team chosen to investigate the explosion of Challenger in 1986. She left the astronaut corps in 1987.
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