Pioneers of the Sky

NASA First Six Women Astronauts

This image shows six intrepid, pioneering women astronauts. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983. The following year, Judy Resnik became the second American woman in space, Kathryn D. Sullivan became the first American woman to perform a spacewalk and Anna Lee Fisher became the first mother to go to space. Rhea Seddon, a medical doctor, flew to space in 1985. On her fifth spaceflight, Shannon Lucid became the first woman to fly to a space station in 1996.