AMERICA'S FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE - SALLY RIDE COVER (version 1)

AMERICA'S FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE - SALLY RIDE COVER (VERSION 1)
FEATURES: FIRST DAY OF ISSUE, MAY 23, 2018. LA JOLLA, CA 92037

SALLY RIDE, AMERICA’S FIRST WOMAN IN SPACE, A PIONEERING ASTRONAUT, BRILLIANT PHYSICIST AND DEDICATED EDUCATOR WHO INSPIRED THE NATION, WAS COMMEMORATED ON A FOREVER STAMP 

ON JUNE 18, 1983, NASA ASTRONAUT SALLY K. RIDE BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN IN SPACE, WHEN SHE LAUNCHED WITH HER FOUR CREWMATES ABOARD THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER ON MISSION STS-7. RIDE AND FIVE OTHER WOMEN HAD BEEN SELECTED IN 1978 FOR NASA ASTRONAUT GROUP 8, THE FIRST AMERICAN SELECTION CLASS TO INCLUDE FEMALES. WITH THE ADVENT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE, NASA EXPANDED ASTRONAUT SELECTION FROM ONLY PILOTS TO SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, AND WOMEN BECAME ELIGIBLE FOR SELECTION. NASA ANNOUNCED RIDE AND HER CLASSMATES TO THE PUBLIC ON JAN. 16, 1978.

ON JUNE 18, 1983, NASA ASTRONAUT SALLY K. RIDE BECAME THE FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN IN SPACE, WHEN SHE LAUNCHED WITH HER FOUR CREWMATES ABOARD THE SPACE SHUTTLE CHALLENGER ON MISSION STS-7. RIDE AND FIVE OTHER WOMEN HAD BEEN SELECTED IN 1978 FOR NASA ASTRONAUT GROUP 8, THE FIRST AMERICAN SELECTION CLASS TO INCLUDE FEMALES. WITH THE ADVENT OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE, NASA EXPANDED ASTRONAUT SELECTION FROM ONLY PILOTS TO SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, AND WOMEN BECAME ELIGIBLE FOR SELECTION.