In Pictures: Exploring Mars with Curiosity
In Pictures: Meteors
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Dancing with the Stars
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Black Holes
In Pictures: Space Photos of the Day: Asteroids
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Visions of the future
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Massive Storms
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Gas giants
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Heavenly Rings
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: Female Astronauts
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: The Moon
In Pictures: Space photos of the day: A Blue Planet
Astronauts Dr. N. Jan Davis (l.) and Dr. Mae C. Jemison (r.) were mission specialists on board the STS-47 mission in 1992.
Valentina Tereshkova, who became the first woman in space in 1963, is seen on this Soviet postage stamp.
Dr. Shannon Lucid was the first woman to hold an international record for the most flight hours in orbit by any non-Russian, and until June 2007 she also held the record for the most flight hours in orbit by any woman in the world.
Jerrie Cobb, a well known female pilot in the 1950s, tests a Gimbal Rig in the Altitude Wind Tunnel in April 1960. Jerrie Cobb was the first female to pass all three phases of the Mercury Astronaut Program but NASA rules stipulated that only military test pilots could become astronauts and there were no female military test pilots. Jerrie completed this astounding feat in 1961.
Sally Ride was the first American woman in space in 1983. Dr. Ride is currently a physics professor and Director of the California Space Institute at the University of California, San Diego.
Women scientists in training at Marshall Space Flight Center, (top to bottom) Carolyn Griner, Ann Whitaker, and Dr. Mary Johnston, are shown simulating weightlessness while undergoing training in the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator in 1975.
Svetlana Savitskaya (c.), the second woman in space, was also the first woman to perform a space walk in 1984. Her mission is commemorated on this Soviet postage stamp.
Astronaut Chiaki Mukai conducts the Lower Body Negative Pressure experiment inside the International Microgravity Laboratory-2 mission science module in 1994. Dr. Chiaki Mukai is one of the National Space Development Agency of Japan astronauts chosen by NASA as a payload specialist.
Female astronauts Jan Davis and Mae Jemison undergo training at Marshall's Spacelab-J Crew Training facility in 1992.
Exuberant and thrilled to be at the Kennedy Space Center, seven women who once aspired to fly into space stand outside Launch Pad 39B near the Space Shuttle Discovery, poised for liftoff on the first flight of 1995. They are members of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, a group of women who trained to become astronauts for America's first human spaceflight program back in the early 1960s. Although this FLATs effort was never an official NASA program, their commitment helped pave the way for the milestone Eileen Collins set: becoming the first female Shuttle pilot.
Astronauts of the STS-7/Challenger mission are left to right, first row: Sally K. Ride (mission specialist), Robert L. Crippen (commander), Frederick H. Hauck (pilot); rear row: John M. Fabian (left) and Norman E. Thagard (mission specialists). STS-7 launched the first five-member crew and the first American female astronaut into space on June 18, 1983.
In Pictures: Exploring Mars with Curiosity
In Pictures: A chance to pray at the Western Wall
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/09
In Pictures: Making it in Japan
In Pictures: Mothers of the world
In Pictures: What happened at the US Consulate in Libya?
Photos of the Day: Photos of the day 05/08
In Pictures: Istanbul: A tale of two cities
In Pictures: Pakistan: caught between ancient and modern life
Astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, never hid her 27-year relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy. But she didn't advertise it either.
Sally Ride was the first U.S. woman in space and a role model for women everywhere. But one group had to wait until her death this week to claim her as a member - the gay community.
