National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinee Sally Ride is known as the first American female astronaut in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983. She constantly competed against boys throughout her schooling years and enjoyed the challenge. She even played football and baseball with the neighborhood boys. She would be one of only six women selected for NASA’s 8th class of astronauts. During her training, she stood out as the top candidate. She would go to space aboard the Challenger several times as the Mission Specialist and Flight Engineer. When the Challenger accident occurred, Sally Ride was selected to be a part of the investigation board attempting to determine what went wrong. Years later, Ride was again asked to be a part of the investigation board for the Columbia disaster. After her time at NASA, Ride formed Sally Ride Science in 2001 to inspire and encourage young girls in science and other technical fields.