Sally Ride - First American Woman in Space has died
Discussion
Can we keep the jokes off this particular thread please?
Sally Ride was a formidable lady and paved the way for a whole generation of female space scientists and female astronauts - some of whom have actually commanded important space missions and who now hold important posts in NASA.
Don't forget, as well as being a scientist and astronaut, she was also a key member of the commission that investigated the Challenger accident and her interogating of the various NASA and contractor personnel was pretty tough and uncompromising.
Sally Ride was a formidable lady and paved the way for a whole generation of female space scientists and female astronauts - some of whom have actually commanded important space missions and who now hold important posts in NASA.
Don't forget, as well as being a scientist and astronaut, she was also a key member of the commission that investigated the Challenger accident and her interogating of the various NASA and contractor personnel was pretty tough and uncompromising.
The difference between Sally Ride's first place is that Sally was the first from a selected team of 7 girls hired in 1978 who were all there on merit as scientists or engineers - and who were only the first female selections for the agency.
Since 1978 dozens of female flight crew have been used by NASA - including pilots as well as mission specilaists. Indeed, one of the top astronauts of them all is Eileeen Collins who was given the job of leading the first Shuttle mission after the Columbia accident. You don't give a mission like that to someone as any form of tokenism.
As for the Russians, there is no doubt that Valentina Thereskova's Vostok flight in 1963 was pure propaganda. The Soviets were so reluctant to use women that it was almost 20 years before another one flew in one of their spacecraft (Svetlana Savitskaya - 1982).
Since then, only a tiny number of Russian females have flown aboard Soyuz missions. The Russian programme is still very much male dominated.
Since 1978 dozens of female flight crew have been used by NASA - including pilots as well as mission specilaists. Indeed, one of the top astronauts of them all is Eileeen Collins who was given the job of leading the first Shuttle mission after the Columbia accident. You don't give a mission like that to someone as any form of tokenism.
As for the Russians, there is no doubt that Valentina Thereskova's Vostok flight in 1963 was pure propaganda. The Soviets were so reluctant to use women that it was almost 20 years before another one flew in one of their spacecraft (Svetlana Savitskaya - 1982).
Since then, only a tiny number of Russian females have flown aboard Soyuz missions. The Russian programme is still very much male dominated.
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