2-839-768 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Model, T-38 Training Aircraft, 1980s. This scale 1:40 Northrop T-38 training jet model belonged to American astronaut and physicist Dr. Sally K. Ride. NASA kept a small fleet of T-38s for astronaut training, proficiency, and transportation, and for use as chase planes. As a mission specialist astronaut, not a pilot, Ride was expected to spend fifteen hours a month aloft in the backseat of a T-38, practicing navigation and communication procedures while conditioning herself for high performance flight. Ride, who had previously flown only on commercial airliners, so enjoyed flying in the T-38 that she took lessons and earned her pilot license. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she flew on the STS-7 shuttle mission in 1983.