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Sally Ride is born on May 26, 1951. Her birth takes place in Los Angeles, California. Ride was born the eldes child of Carol Joyce and Dale Burdell Ride.
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Growing up, Sally was a natural athlete, and her favorite sport was tennis. She placed very high in a national tennis competiton at the age of 13, and could have become a pro athlete. Later, however, she chose science of tennis.
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Sally Ride graduates from Westlake High school in Los Angeles California. She also applies for Stanford University, and gets accepted.
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Billie Jean King, a tennis superstar in her day, sees Sally Ride play. King tells Ride to leave college to become a tennis pro, which Sally Ride seriously considers, but decides against. Sally Ride chooses studies over sports.
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After much studying at Stanford University, Sally Ride recieves her bachelor's degree of science in physics and of art in English.
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After further studies, Sally Ride earns her Master's degree in science. She becomes certain that science is the field she wants to pursue in further studies and in her career.
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A major accomplishment, Sally Ride recieves her doctorate degree in physics. This marks her graduation from college as well.
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NASA (Nation Aeronautic Space Administration) begins a search for qualifed Americans to join their organization. For the first time, they allow women to apply. After much testing and eliminating of many, Sally Ride is accepted.
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For the whole year after being accepted into NASA, Ride undergoes a lot of strenuous training to prepare her for any possible scenario as an astronaut. She completes the training in 1979, and thus is prepared to potentially take a trip into space.
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Sally Ride marries a fellow astronaut of NASA, Steve Hawley. He, like Sally Ride, was a very honored astronaut and had a lot of college and NASA experience.
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After much anticipation, Sally Ride and a crew of a few other men blast off into space. She goes aboad a space shuttle called the Challenger. This is a huge deal for everyone across America, because Sally Ride is now the first American women to blast off and orbit the Earth.
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The space shuttle Challenge returns to Earth six days later, and lands safely; everything goes according to plan. Sally Ride and the crew dismount from the ship and find themselves face to face with a huge, cheering crowd and many, many cameras.
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Sally Ride makes her second expedition into space. She serves as a mission specialist, again on the space shuttle the Challenger. This time, Ride is in charge of the crew that accompanied her on the expedition,
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Sally Ride and Steve Hawley divorce after only a few years. They had no kids, and Sally Ride did not marry again.
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Sally ride leaves her position as a mission specialist to work at the Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control.
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Sally Ride retires from her astronautical career and decides to settle down and become a professor of physics. Ride enjoys being a teacher and is very enthusiastic about her work. She loves telling her students about her adventures, and they in turn love her back.
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Sally Ride becomes president and CEO of the company cally Sally Ride Science. This company creates entertaining science programs and publications for upper elementary and middle school students, with a particular focus on girls.
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Sally Ride's book "Exploring Our Solar System" is written and published. It is a book adressed to children about the wonders of space.
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Sally Ride writes the book "To Space and Back," a book addressed to children about her space adventures.
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Sally Ride writes yet another book about her journey's into space. This one was entitled "Voyager: An Adveture to the Edge of the Solar System." It, too, was addressed to kids.
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Now quite the author, Sally writes a publishes another book. She titled this one "Mission: Save the Planet."
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Sally Ride become a member of the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee, an independent review requested by the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
