June 18: On This Day in 1983 - 1st America Woman in Space

June 18, 1983:  Dr. Sally Ride, a 32 year-old physicist and pilot, functioned as a "mission specialist" and became the first American woman in space when she began a six-day mission aboard the space shuttle Challenger. The "near-perfect" mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, and landed June 24, 1983, at Edwards Air Force Base, CA.