On this day in space! Oct. 11, 1984: The first American woman walks in space

On Oct. 11, 1984, NASA astronaut Kathryn Sullivan became the first woman to walk in space. Sullivan, who had celebrated her 33rd birthday just 8 days before the spacewalk, conducted the history-making exercise as part of the space shuttle Challenger mission STS-41G.

two women float in a space shuttle with a blue aparatus — Former NASA astronauts Kathryn Sullivan (left) here seen with Sally Ride became the first american woman to walk in space on Oct.11, 1984 (Image credit: NASA)

The mission blasted off on October 5 and ended on Oct. 13. Sullivan was part of the first seven-person crew during the mission, which was commanded by Robert Crippen and also included mission specialist David Leetsma, the latter of whom accompanied her on the 3.5-hour spacewalk.

During the spacewalk, Sullivan and Leetsma operated a system designed to show that it is possible to refuel orbiting satellites.

Sullivan would return to space twice more. First, in April 1990, as part of the STS-31 mission, during which the space shuttle Discovery deployed the Hubble Space Telescope. Then again, in March 1992, as part of the STS-45 mission, when she served as payload commander of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science laboratory carried by the space shuttle Atlantis.