A Los Angeles native, Ride attended Stanford University, where she earned four degrees, including a doctorate in physics, according to
NASA. She joined the agency as part of the class of 1978, the first to include women. Ride responded to an ad in the Stanford student newspaper and was selected from some 8,000 applicants.
She was assigned to a third flight, but that was scratched after the Challenger exploded shortly after lift-off in 1986, claiming the lives of seven crew members on board.