67 Facts About Judith Resnik

Judith Arlene Resnik was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot and NASA astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Judith Resnik was the fourth woman, the second American woman and the first Jewish woman of any nationality to fly in space, logging 145 hours in orbit.

Judith Resnik graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon before attaining a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland.

Judith Resnik worked for RCA as an engineer on Navy missile and radar projects, as a senior systems engineer for Xerox Corporation, and published research on special-purpose integrated circuitry.

Judith Resnik was a pilot and made research contributions to biomedical engineering as a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health.

At age 28, Judith Resnik was selected by NASA as a mission specialist.

Judith Resnik was part of NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first group to include women.

Judith Resnik died when the orbiter broke up shortly after liftoff and crashed into the ocean.

Judith Arlene Resnik was born in Akron, Ohio, on April 5,1949, the daughter of Marvin Resnik, an optometrist, and his wife Sarah, a legal secretary.

Judith Resnik had a brother, Charles, who was four years younger.

Judith Resnik's father was the son of a rabbi, and he had been born in Preluke in Ukraine.

Judith Resnik's family had emigrated to Mandatory Palestine in the 1920s, and then to the United States after the 1929 Hebron massacre.

Judith Resnik was fluent in eight languages and served in the US Army during World War II in military intelligence, conducting prisoner of war interrogations and aerial reconnaissance in the Pacific Theater and the subsequent occupation of Japan.

Judith Resnik grew up in an observant Jewish home, studying at Hebrew school at Beth El Synagogue in Akron and celebrating her Bat Mitzvah in 1962, which at the time was not a common occurrence.

Judith Resnik was noticed for her intellectual ability while still in kindergarten, and she entered elementary school a year early.

Judith Resnik attended Fairlawn Elementary School, Simon Perkins Junior High School, and Harvey S Firestone High School.

Judith Resnik was an outstanding student, excelling in mathematics, languages and piano.

Judith Resnik played classical piano, and at one point considered a career as a concert pianist.

Judith Resnik graduated from Firestone in 1966 as valedictorian and runner-up homecoming queen.

Judith Resnik preferred to socialize with boys from the nearby Copley High School rather than from Firestone, where her intellectual reputation preceded her.

Judith Resnik met Len Nahmi at a basketball game.

Judith Resnik was half Irish and half Lebanese, and her mother disapproved of him.

Judith Resnik's parents acrimoniously divorced while she was a teenager, and custody was given to her mother, as was the custom in the United States.

Judith Resnik's father remarried, and she acquired twin stepsisters, Linda and Sandy, who were nine years older than she was, and with whom she became close.

At age 17, Judith Resnik entered Carnegie Institute of Technology, where she joined the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority.

Judith Resnik began college intending to become a math major, but in her second year, after attending electrical engineering lectures with her boyfriend Michael Oldak, she developed a passion for the subject.

Judith Resnik was one of three female students in electrical engineering.

Judith Resnik was a gourmet cook and a navigator in sports car rallies, in which she took part many times with Oldak in his Triumph TR6.

Judith Resnik earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1970.

Judith Resnik became a member of Tau Beta Pi, Mortar Board, and Eta Kappa Nu honor societies.

Judith Resnik's mother attended the wedding; two sets of invitations were sent out, one describing her as her father's daughter, and the other as her mother's.

Judith Resnik was a design engineer on missile and radar projects and won the Graduate Study Program Award.

Judith Resnik performed circuit design for the missile and surface radar division.

Judith Resnik registered for master's degree evening courses at the University of Pennsylvania.

In 1971, Oldak was accepted into Georgetown University Law Center, and they moved to Washington, DC Judith Resnik continued to work for RCA, transferring to its office in Springfield, Virginia, and she continued pursuing her master's degree at the University of Maryland.

Judith Resnik's research involved the effects of electrical currents on the retina.

Judith Resnik met with another former astronaut, John Glenn, who was now a United States senator from her home state of Ohio.

Resnik's mentor and advisor, Professor Angel G Jordan, then Dean of Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering and later provost of Carnegie Mellon, encouraged Resnik to apply for the program.

Judith Resnik rented an apartment in Redondo Beach, California, where she would jog along the beach to improve her stamina and reduce her weight.

In January 1978, at age 28, Judith Resnik was selected as a mission specialist with NASA Astronaut Group 8, one of 29 men and six women selected out of 8,029 applicants in the first NASA astronaut selection that included women.

Judith Resnik trained intensely and with great determination, focusing particularly on her physical fitness.

Judith Resnik piloted the Northrop T-38 Talon, an aircraft used by NASA astronauts for transportation and training.

Judith Resnik worked on research into the principle of orbital systems, flight software and the development of systems of manual control of spacecraft.

Judith Resnik developed the software and operating procedures for the Space Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System.

Judith Resnik developed the deployment systems for the tethered satellite systems and worked on orbiter development, writing software for NASA to use on its missions.

Judith Resnik disliked the part of her job that required making public appearances and drumming up support for the space program.

Judith Resnik avoided television interviews when possible, and resented intrusive questions about her private life, such as questions about her divorce.

The shortlisted candidates for the mission specialist assignments for the STS-7 mission included all six women, but since the mission involved the use of the RMS, the choice of the first to fly on the Space Shuttle narrowed to Judith Resnik, Ride and Anna Fisher, who had specialized on it.

Judith Resnik was considered best qualified, but was passed over in favor of Ride because it was felt that Judith Resnik was less comfortable with public affairs, and the first American woman to fly in space would attract an unusual amount of public interest.

Judith Resnik was the center of attention on such visits, and one contractor engineer became a stalker, sending her unwelcome letters, poems and gifts.

Judith Resnik invited her family to watch the launch from the VIP viewing area.

Judith Resnik's mother was in attendance, to avoid bad publicity.

Judith Resnik was the first American Jewish astronaut to go into space, and the first Jewish woman.

Judith Resnik's duties included operating the Space Shuttle's robotic arm, which she helped create and on which she was an expert.

Coats was able to repair the camera, and Hartsfield continued filming, while Judith Resnik kept her distance.

That day Judith Resnik deployed the OAST-1 solar array wing, considered a potential future way of generating more electrical power during space missions.

Judith Resnik was smart, hardworking, and dependable, all the things you would want in a fellow crewmember.

On January 29,1985, NASA announced that Judith Resnik had been assigned to the crew of STS-51-L.

Judith Resnik was primarily responsible for the operation of the RMS and, with fellow astronaut Ronald McNair, would deploy and later retrieve the Spartan.

Judith Resnik was part of the team of astronauts who flew to Washington, DC, to speak to the 113 finalists, and provide them an insider's view of a Space Shuttle mission.

Judith Resnik told them that it was a shame that they could not all fly in space, but privately she disagreed with NASA's decision to send non-astronauts on the Space Shuttle.

Judith Resnik's assignment was tied to McAuliffe's; NASA wanted McAuliffe to fly with a veteran female astronaut.

Judith Resnik carried a locket for her niece, a signet ring for her nephew and a cigarette lighter for Nahmi.

Judith Resnik's last recorded words aboard Challenger regarded scanning for "LVLH", reminding the cockpit crew of a switch configuration change to the attitude direction indicator.

Judith Resnik was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Judith Resnik was awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal for her first flight.

Judith Resnik is commemorated on the Space Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center.