May 26 – Sally Ride Day

This day is to honor Dr. Sally Ride:

In 1983, Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space as an astronaut on the shuttle Challenger. She was a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, FL, on June 18. She was accompanied by Captain Robert Crippen (commander), Captain Frederick Hauck (pilot), & fellow mission specialists Colonel John Fabian & Dr. Norman Thagard. This was the second flight for the Challenger & the first mission with a 5-person crew. During the mission, the STS-7 crew deployed satellites for Canada & Indonesia; operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System to perform the first deployment & retrieval exercise with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite; conducted the first formation flying of the orbiter with a free-flying satellite; carried & operated the first U.S./German cooperative materials science payload; & operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System & the Monodisperse Latex Reactor experiments, in addition to activating seven Getaway Specials. Mission duration was 147 hours before landing on a lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1983.

                     - Space.about.com