Middle school students programmed the Sally Ride EarthKAM on the International Space Station to photograph this part of the Sahara Desert

© NASA

Middle school students programmed the Sally Ride EarthKAM on the International Space Station to photograph this part of the Sahara Desert

This far-out image of the Sahara Desert was photographed from space via the Sally Ride EarthKAM, a camera aboard the International Space Station. The EarthKAM is programmed remotely by middle school students as part of an educational program established by Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel to space. Ride’s first trip to space was in 1983. On May 26, her birthday, we remember her legacy.