NASA Selects Judith Resnik as Astronaut Candidate

While NASA’s first astronaut class was introduced in April 1959 — just a year after its founding and a decade before Neil Armstrong would take his famous walk on the moon — it was almost another 20 years before the National Aeronautics and Space Administration selected its first-ever female astronaut candidates in January 1978. Among them was Akron native Judith Resnik. Born April 5, 1949, Resnik was 28 years old when she received the call from NASA. 

Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer interviewed Resnik’s mother, Sarah Polen, in its Jan. 20, 1978, edition. “I’m so proud of her,” Polen said. “Judith is making history.” 

The newspaper reported that Resnik was one of 35 named by NASA as eligible for flights as early as 1980. At the time of her selection, Resnik was living in California working for the Xerox Co. as a product engineer, and her extensive education made her a prime candidate for selection.“She is on a list of 20 mission specialists whose main shuttle work will be to conduct medical, astronomical, scientific and other experiments,” The Plain Dealer reported. 

According to a UPI report published in the Troy Daily News Dec. 16, 1978, Resnik said her duties would also include, “flight engineering, space walking and managing space systems.” 

Resnik’s NASA biography noted that she completed her one-year training evaluation period in August 1979 before flying as a mission specialist on board STS-41-D, launching from Kennedy Space Center Aug. 30, 1984. 

She logged a total of 144 hours and 57 minutes in space before her untimely death at age 36 during the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster following its launch from Kennedy Space Center Jan. 28, 1986. 

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