As the Space Program, as we know it from NASA, comes to a close, DIR salutes the various American "firsts" who have flown "to infinity and beyond" and led the way for diversity in the program!

Sally Kristen Ride, First American Female Astronaut in Space
Sally Kristen Ride was born on May 26, 1951 in Encino, California (near Los Angeles). At 27, with B.A., B.S., and masters' degrees, she was a Ph.D. candidate looking for postdoctoral work in astrophysics when she read about NASA's call for astronauts in the Stanford University paper. More than 8,000 men and women applied to the space program that year. 35 were accepted, six of whom were women. In 1983, Dr. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on the shuttle Challenger (STS-7). Her cumulative hours of space flight are more than 343.
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Guion Bluford, first African-American Male Astronaut in Space
Guion Bluford earned a master of science degree with distinction in aerospace engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology followed by a doctor of philosophy in aerospace engineering with a minor in laser physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

In 1978, he learned he was the 35 astronaut candidates selected from a field of over 10,000. Guion Bluford entered the Astronaut Training Program, and became an astronaut in August 1979. Guy's first mission was STS-8 aboard the space shuttle Challenger, which launched from Kennedy Space Center on Aug. 30, 1983. This was Challenger’s third flight but the first mission with a night launch and night landing. It also marked the occasion of the first African-American astronaut, Guy Bluford. (The first black man in outer space had been Cuban Col. Arnaldo Tamayo-Mendez on the Soviet mission Salyut 6 in 1980.) After 98 orbits of the earth, the Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 5, 1983.
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Dr. Ellen Ochoa, first Hispanic Female Astronaut in Space

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Ochoa became an astronaut in July 1991. Her technical assignments in the Astronaut Office include serving as the crew representative for flight software, computer hardware and robotics, Assistant for Space Station to the Chief of the Astronaut Office, lead spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control, Acting Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office, Deputy Director of Flight Crew Operations, and Director, Flight Crew Operations, where she managed and directed the Astronaut Office and Aircraft Operations.. A veteran of four space flights, Dr. Ochoa has logged over 978 hours in space. Dr. Ochoa currently serves as Deputy Director, Johnson Space Center.

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Franklin Ramón Chang Díaz, First Male Hispanic Astronaut in Space
Chang-Diaz, a Costa Rican-American engineer, physicist, was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1980 and first flew aboard STS-61-C in 1986. He is currently president and CEO ofAd Astra Rocket Company. He is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, making him the record holder as of 2008 for the most spaceflights (a record he shares with Jerry L. Ross). He is the first naturalized US citizen to become an astronaut.

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Dr. Mae Jemison, First African-American Female Astronaut in Space

Dr. Jemison was the science mission specialist on STS-47 Spacelab-J (September 12-20, 1992). STS-47 was a cooperative mission between the United States and Japan. The eight-day mission was accomplished in 127 orbits of the Earth, and included 44 Japanese and U.S. life science and materials processing experiments. Dr. Mae Jemison was a co-investigator on the bone cell research experiment flown on the mission. The Endeavour and her crew launched from and returned to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In completing her first space flight, Dr. Mae Jemison logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space, making her the first African-American woman in space.

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John H. Glenn, Jr., first American Astronaut to orbit the earth

John Glenn, a three-war veteran, became the 3rd American in space and the 1st to orbit the earth on February 20, 1962. Glenn resigned from NASA on January 30, 1964, and retired from the Marine Corps on December 31, 1964. John Glenn served as a United States Senator from Ohio from 1974 to 1999, and became the oldest person to go into space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery during Mission STS-95 from October 29 to November 7, 1998. 

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John Bennett Herrington, First Native American Male Astronaut

Herrington made history as the first native American in space. U.S. Navy Commander Herrington flew from NASA's Kennedy Space Center with six other astronauts to the International Space Station. It was the 16th American assembly flight to the space station.

To honor his Native American heritage, Herrington, a registered Chickasaw, carried a Chickasaw Nation flag on his eleven-day trip. The flag had been presented to him by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby. Herrington's maternal great-grandmother was of Chickasaw descent. Students and elders from the Chickasaw Nation witnessed the launch at Cape Canaveral, Florida.