Paul M. Krueger

NASA’s seventh Space Shuttle mission, STS-7, launched carrying Sally Ride, America’s first female astronaut and the first astronaut in space known to have been LGBTQ.

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ㅤSTS-7, launched on June 18, 1983, was a historic mission for NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Commanded by Robert Crippen, the five-person crew was the largest to fly in a single spacecraft at the time and notably included Sally Ride, who made history as the first American woman in space and is also recognized as the first known LGBTQ astronaut. The crew, which also featured Frederick Hauck, John M. Fabian, and Norman Thagard, marked the first flight for members of NASA’s 1978 astronaut class. During the flight, Thagard focused on medical tests studying Space adaptation syndrome to better understand the nausea frequently experienced by astronauts during early spaceflight.

ㅤOver the course of the six-day, 97-orbit mission, the crew successfully completed numerous operational and scientific objectives before weather forced a diverted landing at Edwards Air Force Base on June 24. They deployed two communications satellites for Canada and Indonesia and operated the first Shuttle pallet satellite (SPAS-1). This unique West German satellite was deployed and retrieved by the Canadarm, successfully conducting microgravity experiments and capturing photographs of the Challenger orbiter in space. Additionally, the flight carried several Getaway Special canisters and achieved the first successful data relay to the ground through a tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS).