1983, First American Woman in Space Sally Ride

STS-7 NASA Shuttle Mission-Challenger 2

On this day during on June 18, 1983, STS-7 is NASA’s seventh Space Shuttle mission, and the second mission for the Space Shuttle Challenger launched. Meanwhile, Sally Ride became the first American Woman in Space.

Sally Ride

Sally Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982). However, Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32.

After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA during in 1987. In April 19, 1982, Ride became the first American woman astronaut. She served on the committees that investigated the Challenger and Columbia Space Shuttle disasters. Therefore, she became the only person to participate in both.

Challenger 2

The Challenger 2 shuttle launched from Kennedy Space Center on June 18, 1983, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base during on June 24, 1983. The crew of STS-7 included Robert L. Crippen (Commander), Frederick H. Hauck (Pilot), John M. Fabian (Mission Specialist), Sally K. Ride (Mission Specialist) and Norman E. Thagard (Mission Specialist).

However, the purpose of the mission was to deploy two communications satellites and the first Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-1), conduct experiments within the cargo bay, and test the TDRS satellite. SPAS-1 was successfully deployed, underwent experiments, then recollected and brought back to Earth.

The STS-7 experienced the first known External Tank bipod ramp foam shedding event during launch.

Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-7