Editor's Note: Cpt. Frederick (Rick) Hauck spent 29 years in the U.S. Navy as a combat pilot, test pilot and NASA astronaut. He flew as co-pilot aboard the space shuttle Challenger with Sally Ride in 1983 and commanded two missions aboard the space shuttle Discovery, including the first shuttle mission after the Challenger tragedy.

Almost 35 years ago, NASA announced the selection of 35 new astronaut candidates, to augment the aging cadre of America's heroic men who carried the American flag into space and on to the moon. Sally Kristen Ride was one of them, chosen from more than 10,000 applicants.

Ride was one of 20 selected not as pilots, but as engineers, scientists and physicians who would be responsible for conducting on-board experiments and launching satellites from the space shuttle, and later going on space walks to help build the International Space Station.

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