Essay On Sally Ride

The introduction of women into National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) began with the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATS) and was finally completed when NASA allowed women into the space program in 1978. The space race inspired Ride to look into the idea of becoming an astronaut, but she didn’t believe it was a possibility until NASA started actively seeking out women. Because of Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb’s encounter with the FLATS program, Sally Ride and other women were allowed to become astronauts in NASA’s space program with the help of some federal acts to protect women's new found rights such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX. Once she was at NASA, Ride went on to explore space on two Challenger missions. Sally Ride’s …show more content…
The big space race started on May 25, 1961, when President Kennedy delivered his famous speech about how the United States was going to beat The Soviet Union in putting a man on the moon. His speech encouraged the U.S. Congress to appropriate more funding to put a man safely on the moon before the decade was over. As Kennedy stated, “I therefore ask the Congress, above and beyond the increases I have earlier requested for space activities, to provide the funds which are needed to meet the following national goals: First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth” (May 25, 1961: JFK's Moon Shot Speech to Congress). On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed safely on the moon making Kennedy’s dreams a reality. News of the Apollo program’s success dominated the 1960s news, and Ride read about the space program’s successes and had thought she wanted to be an astronaut but later abolished the thought because no woman had ever been accepted to the space