Sally Ride

This month, join the USA Science & Engineering Festival and the rest of the nation in celebrating Women's History Month, paying tribute to generations of women around the world whose contributions to numerous fields and endeavors -- including those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- have proven invaluable to society. The national theme of Women's History Month this year is "Celebrating Women of Character, Courage, and Commitment," and we invite you to commemorate such innovators in two ways with the Festival. First, visit the Festival's Role Models in Science &…
"Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation. You will have opportunities beyond anything we've ever known." -Ronald Reagan Earlier today, Sally Ride, the first American woman ever to fly in outer space, passed away at the age of 61 from pancreatic cancer. To many different people, her life, her achievements, and her death means a great diversity of things. To anyone with a love of outer space, human exploration, and achieving your dreams, her story will likely resonate with you, too. I'd like to share with you what are,…
As NASA's Space Shuttle program winds down -- Endeavour's final mission is slated for later this year, then that's it -- let us take a moment and remember the Shuttles. Sure, they had a tendency to explode into balls of fire. Sure, they were expensive, risky, and besieged by problems. But now is not the time for criticism: 25 years of American engineering, 132 missions, and over 20,000 orbits of this planet are nothing to shake a stick at. It is in this spirit of recognition that Universe presents a very subjective chronology of the Shuttle's greatest moments. Onward! Gene Roddenberry, Star…