Today in History - October 11, 1984 - Astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk. Sullivan became an astronaut in 1979 and has been on three space flights:  STS-41G (October 5-13, 1984), STS-31 (April 24-29, 1990) and STS-45 (March 24-April 2, 1992).  She has also held a number of Space Shuttle support assignments, including software development, launch and landing photography, orbiter and cargo testing, checkout and launch support at the Kennedy Space Center, extravehicular and spacesuit support crew, and capsule communicator for Mission Control. Sullivan’s doctorate is in geology and earth sciences. Her research was in geological engineering, including research in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Newfoundland Basin and fault zones off the Southern California Coast.

Another historic moment for women in space arrived on October 19, 2007 when NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson arrived at the International Space Station to begin her tenure as the first woman to command a station mission. On October 30, 2007 another female astronaut commanding the space shuttle Discovery, Pam Melroy, reached the space station, making it the first time two women have led space missions at the same time.

For more news and educational resources in space exploration, women in space, and aerospace and aeronautical engineering, see the Engineering Pathway’s Aerospace Engineering Education Community site.