On
June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in
space when the space shuttle Challenger launched on mission STS-7. As one of the three mission specialists on the STS-7 mission, she
played a vital role in helping the crew deploy communications
satellites, conduct experiments and make use of the first Shuttle Pallet
Satellite. In this image, Dr. Ride sits in the aft flight deck mission
specialist's seat during deorbit preparations.