Medal, National Aviation Hall of Fame, Sally Ride

This National Aviation Hall of Fame medal was bestowed upon Dr. Sally K. Ride in July 2007. At the time of her induction, there were 190 people enshrined in the Hall of Fame, only 10 of whom were women. The Hall of Fame was founded in 1962 and chartered nationally by an act of Congress in 1964. The organization recognizes individuals who have made unique contributions to aviation through "American ingenuity and individual acts of great vision, persistance, skill and courage."

Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she flew aboard STS-7 in 1983. Her second and last space mission was STS-41G in 1984. A physicist with a Ph.D., she joined the astronaut corps in 1978 as a part of the first class of astronauts recruited specifically for the Space Shuttle Program. Viewed as a leader in the NASA community, she served on the Rogers Commission after the Challenger disaster in 1986 as well as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) in 2003. She also led the task force that produced a visionary strategic planning report in 1987 titled, “NASA Leadership and America’s Future in Space,” but known popularly as the Ride Report.

After she retired from NASA in 1987, Dr. Ride taught first at Stanford and later at the University of California, San Diego. Until her death in 2012, she was president and CEO of Sally Ride Science, a company that promoted science education.

Dr. Ride’s partner, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, donated the medal to the Museum in 2013.