Sally Ride always loved science and sports. In high school, she thought about becoming a tennis player. Her love of science won out, however. Ride went to college and studied physics, a branch of science.

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In 1978, Ride saw an ad in a newspaper for an exciting job: astronaut! The position was at NASA, the United States government agency that runs the country's space program. Eight thousand college students applied. Only twenty-five were accepted. Sally Ride was one of them.

 

While training at NASA, Ride helped develop a robotic arm to use in space. She went on her first space shuttle trip on June 18, 1983. She was the first American woman to travel in space.