Sally Ride
FameRank: 6

"Sally Kristen Ride" was an American physicist and astronaut. Born in Los Angeles, Ride joined NASA in 1978 and, at the age of 32, became the first American woman in outer space/space. After flying twice on the space shuttle Challenger/space shuttle Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. She worked for two years at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation/Center for International Security and Arms Control, then the University of California, San Diego as a professor of physics, primarily researching non-linear optics and Thomson scattering. She served on the committees that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster/Challenger and Space Shuttle Columbia disaster/Columbia space shuttle disasters, the only person to participate on both. Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to travel to space.

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Today, the astronaut corps is almost 25% female, ... and I want that to continue to rise.

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Women make up only 25 percent of the science, engineering and technology workforce... We are delighted to be working with NASA Ames to give Silicon Valley area girls a chance to explore and develop their potential in science at an age when many begin to drift away from their natural interest.

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You have to reach a level of comfort with that risk.

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My parents didn't have a scientific bone in their body, and their daughter was pursuing a career in astrophysics. They didn't even know what astrophysics meant, but they supported me.

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If girls are interested, they have the potential to go further, ... There are still lingering stereotypes that affect girls in middle school, and they lose interest in the subjects.

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There are lots of opportunities out there for women to work in these fields, ... Girls just need support, encouragement and mentoring to follow through with the sciences.

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