Sally Ride wearing a “TFNG” shirt as she cleans an air filter system during her 1983 flight aboard Space Shuttle Challenger. This first wave of twenty women astronauts selected through 1990 proved more than capable in training and in flight. The trailblazing generation of women astronauts found a welcoming environment at JSC and believed that NASA had committed to their success. Military pilots were at the top, with more numerous Navy pilots outranking Air Force pilots. Her previous books include Discovery: Champion of the Space Shuttle Fleet and Spaceflight in the Shuttle Era and Beyond.