YOU COULD EASILY SAY THAT THE WAY TO GET TO SPACE WAS THROUGH ENID, OKLAHOMA. Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space on STS-7 is seen in her ASCAN training at Vance in 1978. Courtesy NASA. In 1978, the first class of female astronaut candidates were chosen which included Bethany, Oklahoma’s Shannon Lucid. The others were Sally Ride, Judith Resnick, Rhea Seddon, Anna Fisher, and Kathy Sullivan. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space on the STS-7 mission. Judith Resnick was unfortunately Duane Ross, born in Oklahoma killed in the explosion of the Shuttle Challenger in 1986. City, served as director of the Astronaut Training Program at Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Courtesy Duane Ross. 16