Dr. Sally Ride grew up in Los Angeles and went to Stanford University, where she was a double major in physics and English. Ride received bachelor's degrees in both subjects in 1973. She continued to study physics at the university, earning a master's degree in 1975 and a Ph.D. in 1978. Did you go to college or University after High School?

NASA began looking for women astronauts in 1977. Sally Ride was a student at the time. She saw an ad in the school newspaper inviting women to apply to the astronaut program. Sally Ride decided to apply for the job. That same year, Ride beat out 1,000 other applicants for a spot in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) astronaut program. She was one of six women picked! Sally went through the program's rigorous training program and got her chance to go into space and the record books in 1983. Have you heard of Sally Ride before this survey?

On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. She was an astronaut on a space shuttle mission. Her job was to work the robotic arm. She used the arm to help put satellites into space aboard the space shuttle Challenger. As a mission specialist, she helped deploy satellites and worked other projects. She returned to Earth on June 24 1983. She flew on the space shuttle again in 1984. Are you interested in travelling in outer space?

The next year, Ride again served as a mission specialist on a space shuttle flight in October. She was scheduled to take a third trip, but it was canceled after the tragic Challenger accident on January 28, 1986. After the accident, Ride served on the presidential commission that investigated the space shuttle explosion. Do you remember the Challenger Tragedy?

Sally left NASA in 1987. She started looking for ways to help women and girls who wanted to study science and mathematics. She came up with the idea for NASA's EarthKAM project. EarthKAM lets middle school students take pictures of Earth using a camera on the International Space Station. Students then study the pictures. Ride became the director of the California Space Institute at the University of California, San Diego, as well as a professor of physics at the school in 1989. In 2001, she started her own company to create educational programs and products known as Sally Ride Science to help inspire girls and young women to pursue their interests in science and math. Ride served as president and CEO. Have you ever used Google Earth or EarthKAM to see images of the earth?

For her contributions to the field of science and space exploration, Ride received many honors, including the NASA Space Flight Medal and the NCAA's Theodore Roosevelt Award. She was also inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall of Fame. President Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously to Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. As a role model to generations of young women, Ride advocated passionately for science education, stood up for racial and gender equality in the classroom, and taught students from every background that there are no limits to what they can accomplish. Ride also served in several administrations as an advisor on space exploration. Were you aware of all the honors bestowed on Sally Ride?

On July 23, 2012, Ride died at the age of 61, following a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She will always be remembered as a pioneering astronaut who went where no other American woman had gone before. In May 2021, it was announced that Ride will be one of the first women to be commemorated with a new series of quarters from the U.S. Mint. Have you heard about this Special Series of Coins?