Sally Ride: Historical Figures Essay Example

The most influential person in the world is according to me is Sally Ride who is an Astronaut. She was born in 1951 and died in 2012 at the age of 61. She was an American born in Los Angeles and married to Steve Hawley. Ride was a physicist by profession and spent 14days 7 hours and 46 minutes in the space. She was a NASA astronaut. Ride had one sibling who was a Presbyterian minister. She went to Portola junior school before joining Birmingham high school and then to Westlake lake for girls on a sponsorship. Ride was interested in science and played tennis emerging among the top-ranked players in Los Angeles. She took physics courses at the University of California, then to Stanford University graduating with a degree in English and physics. The Astronaut also earned a master's degree and Ph.D. from the same university. The ride was one of the eight thousand students in Stanford who answered the call for students to apply for the space program. She was then chosen to join NASA in 1978, and her career led her to serve as a capsule communicator for the second and third space shuttles .one of the roles that she played was to help in the development of the Canadarm robot. Ride was the first female astronaut, and she kept on receiving interview questions from the media asking her for instance if the career would affect her reproductive organs if she cries when things go wrong while in space. All she could answer was nothing but that she only saw herself as an astronaut and nothing else.

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She is remembered as one person who encouraged the young people to join the technical careers. "As the first American woman to travel into space, Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model," President Barack Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars and later fought tirelessly to help them get there by advocating for a greater focus on science and math in our schools." (Barack Obama). She also encourages the young girls to pursue their careers to greater heights. Ride established her own science company as a fulfillment of her dreams to encourage young girls to join careers in science and math. She is highly praised for inspiring young girls and women to pursue their careers to the best levels. Sally encouraged women by informing them that they were just as capable as men. she had dedicated the whole of her life in teaching young children, and one of the roles she played was to write children books such as the "To Space and Back," and "Voyager." Sally also began the EarthKAM project which gave young school children the opportunity to shoot from the space using the camera from a space station. She encouraged young people especially the women concerning their careers. She advised them to go for their dreams regardless of how tough the journey of achieving them might be she states "Rocket science is tough, and rockets have a way of failing. 'The stars don't look bigger, but they do look brighter."(Ride)

Although Ride is no longer alive, she left a great legacy that has inspired the world on the achievements of dreams. She was a pillar and a great encouragement to women who pursue careers that are considered for men. Some of the awards and honors that she received include national space society's award, national hall of fame females award, earned herself NASA space travel award two times, the naming of two elementary schools after her. Similarly, she also received Jefferson's ward of service to humanity for persons under the age of thirty-five years and above. The ride also championed the public outreach and educational programs NASA GRAIL mission which sent two satellites to the moon.

Conclusion

Although she was a strong woman, who pursued her goals, her marriage failed, and she divorced her husband and fellow astronaut. She served humanity and also broke in her bold move to pursue a career that has been considered mainly for men. She leaves a legacy as the first woman astronaut and one who had a great passion for science and math one of the fields dominated by men. It is however sad that she died of cancer at the of 61. Her love for children and the books she wrote for them will forever be cherished and appreciated in the society. She was a philanthropist who never failed in giving service to humanity during her burial several statements of praises were made in memory of her doings. She made America proud and left a legacy that encourages every woman that it is possible to achieve dreams. One thing that is fascinating about her character is how she responded to several questions from the media regarding her tough career decisions. In one of the interviews, she states that everything about the space travel was fun and that is the only thing she can remember.

Works Cited

Knipfer, Cody. "Sally Ride and Valentina Tereshkova: Changing the Course of Human Space Exploration." NASA. http:// www. NASA. Gov/ topics/ history/ features/ ride_anniversary. html#. VDwXddR4pfF accessed August 30 (2014).

Leonard, Jacqueline. "Culture, Identity, and Mathematics Achievement." Culturally Specific Pedagogy in the Mathematics Classroom. Routledge, 2018. 25-46.

O'Shaughnessy, Tam. Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America's Pioneering Woman in Space. Roaring Brook Press, 2015.

Sherr, Lynn. Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space. Simon and Schuster, 2014.