¹     "This is mission control." That is what Sally Ride said. She was an astronaut. She started out talking to the astronauts that were in space. She stayed on the ground. Sally Ride also designed a robot arm that helped catch satellites in space. In 1983, she became the first American woman in space on the shuttle Challenger. At the end of her second mission, also on Challenger, Sally Ride had spent more than 343 hours in space.
 
²     Sally Kristen Ride grew up in California. She was born on May 26, 1951. She loved playing tennis. She thought about becoming a professional tennis player. After some time, Sally decided that she liked science more. She went to school for many years. She got a doctorate degree in astrophysics. She saw an ad in the paper that NASA was looking for astronauts. Sally applied and was one of six women to get the job.
 
³     In 1986, Sally was getting ready to go up in space for a third time. There was a terrible accident. Sally was not involved. The Challenger exploded. Sally's mission to space was put off. Her job was to investigate the accident. She created a report about the future of space exploration.

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