In 1983, space shuttle Challenger and the STS-7 crew launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. With the launch, Mission Specialist Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly in space. The STS-7 crew, the first five-member crew, deployed two communications satellites and conducted experiments from the Shuttle Pallet Satellite. Ride, shown here floating in the Challenger flight deck, later described the launch as “exhilarating, terrifying and overwhelming all at the same time.” The NASA History Program is responsible for generating, disseminating, and preserving NASA’s remarkable history and providing a comprehensive understanding of the institutional, cultural, social, political, economic, technological, and scientific aspects of NASA’s activities in aeronautics and space. For more pictures like this one and to connect to NASA’s history, visit the History Program’s