Sally Ride was born in Encino, California on May 26, 1951, but grew up in Van Nuys, Los Angeles. When she was young, she was passionate about science and sports. She was an excellent athlete, particularly in tennis, and was coached by Alice Marble, a former number-one tennis player, while additionally excelling in school. In 1973, she earned two Bachelor's degrees in Physics and English. Her dream job was to play baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but as she got older, her interest in space grew. She was fascinated by what was beyond our atmosphere. …show more content…
She beat 1000 other people to get to NASA. Her Bachelor's degrees gave her a good background, which helped her get picked for NASA, standing out from others. Being an astronaut was hard work, and she had to endure rigorous training, including parachute jumping, water survival, radio communications, and flying jets. On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride made history when she flew on the Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-7 mission. On the STS-7 mission, she operated the shuttle's robotic arm, the Remote Manipulator System, to put and retrieve