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The 1980's

Taking a Ride into Space

Taking a Ride into Space
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 5 to 7
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.52

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    orbit, flights, take-off, astronaut, reality, investigation, universe, capsule, ranked, during, flown, public, purpose, committee, elementary, journey
     content words:    Sally Ride, No American, Two Russian, Valentina Tereshkova, Svetlana Savitskaya, Space Shuttle Challenger, In January, United States, Third Planet, Exploring Earth From Space

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Taking a Ride into Space
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     The 1980's were busy years for Sally Ride. During the 1980's, Sally was able to see many of her childhood dreams come true. She had always been interested in science. She was very athletic. In 1978, she was accepted into the first astronaut class to accept women. Her goal was to be part of the NASA astronaut team and explore space. That dream became a reality on June 18, 1983.
 
2     Sally Ride grew up in California. She was a good student. She didn't spend all of her time with books, however. She also enjoyed playing tennis. She became so good at playing tennis that she was ranked with other good players from all over the country. In college, she used her love of science to complete a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in physics. While working on her master's degree at Stanford, she started doing research on astrophysics. This is a study of how physics affects the universe and everything that makes up the universe like planets, stars, suns, and the like.
 
3     It didn't take Sally Ride long before she realized that space travel was in her future. She began astronaut training in 1978. During her training, she was responsible for keeping communications open between the space vehicle and mission control. No American woman had been allowed to be a member of the capsule crew at that point. Two Russian women had already flown in space. Valentina Tereshkova pioneered space flights for women in 1963. It wasn't until 1982 that Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman to see space first hand.

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