40 years ago, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space
On June 18, 1983, she made history aboard the space shuttle. America's first woman in space had joined NASA after responding to a newspaper ad. "I knew that's what I wanted to do," she said.
The morning of June 18, 1983, hundreds of thousands of spectators awaited the Challenger space shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
Some people in the crowd wore T-shirts inscribed with the Mustang Sally lyrics "Ride Sally Ride" because one of the astronauts on board mission STS-7 was about to make history.
Women in space
Mission specialist Sally Ride and four other NASA crew
