SALLY RIDE

A statue of the first American woman to fly into space will soon stand near where the first lunar landing spacecraft were built, just as NASA works toward landing the first woman on the moon.

Among the honorees are a former first lady, pilot, ballerina, composer and journalist.

The late Native Hawaiian hula teacher Edith Kanaka’ole is among five women who will be individually featured on U.S. quarters next year as part of a program that depicts notable women on the coin.

The first American woman to fly into space has launched on a new mission, this time to orbit the nation in the form of a circulating coin. The U.S. Mint has begun shipping the Sally Ride quarter.

The coins are the first in the U.S. Mint's American Women Quarters Program.

The United States Mint says it has begun shipping quarters featuring the image of poet Maya Angelou.

“It’s condescending. It’s demoralizing,” said one former top executive of conditions prompting many to leave the company.

For a limited time beginning next year, the U.S. Mint will issue quarters honoring women from history. The first batch celebrates icons in civil rights, politics, humanities and science.

As the first American woman to fly into space, Sally Ride became one of the largest figures in space exploration history. Now, Ride is being honored with a Little People figure in her likeness.

>> Read more trending newsWilma Mankiller, Adelina Otero-Warren and Anna May Wong will be featured on the reverse of the 2022 quarters, the Mint announced in a news release. >> Change to women: New quarter series will feature famous women“Courageous women have made countless contributions throughout our great Nation’s history,” Mint Director David J. Ryder said in a statement. “The American Women Quarters Program is a unique opportunity to honor a broad and diverse group of women whose achievements, triumphs, and legacies reflect the strength and resilience of our Nation. We look forward to sharing their stories.”The United States Mint is pleased to announce the final three women to be honored in the American Women Quarters™ Program during its first year (2022). @smithsonian @womenshistory @USTreasury #HerQuarter #AmericanWomenQuarters pic.twitter.com/Vwfh6VYXrA — United States Mint (@usmint) June 9, 2021The quarters program will run through 2025 and will have up to five designs, according to CNN.

Poet Maya Angelou, astronaut Sally Ride, suffrage activist Adelina Otero-Warren, film star Anna May Wong and Cherokee Nation leader Wilma Mankiller will appear on quarters starting in 2022.

A string of notable American women will appear on the U.S. quarter under a four-year program that begins in 2022.

Nine people were killed after a gunman opened fire at a San Jose light rail facility before taking his own life.

Nine people were killed after a gunman opened fire at a San Jose light rail facility before taking his own life.

An employee opened fire on co-workers, then turned the gun on himself, authorities said.

Mayor Sam Liccardo said the situation is still being assessed.

The poet and astronaut will make history again as two of 20 distinguished women to be honored by the U.S. Mint.

New quarters Sally Ride and Maya Angelou are the first two women honored on a new series of quarters (US Mint)Women are getting their chance to shine on a new series of quarters. >> Read more trending newsThe U.S. Mint has introduced the “American Women Quarters Program,” that will feature famous women on the reverse side of the coin. The first two coins in the series will feature poet Maya Angelou and astronaut Sally Ride and will circulate starting in January 2022. The Mint is requesting that women nominated are known for civil rights, the arts and abolition. They also should have “ethnically, racially and geographically diverse backgrounds.”The program will run through 2025 and will have up to five designs, CNN reported.

Marine scientists say they have found what they believe to be as many as 25,000 barrels that possibly contain DDT dumped off the Southern California coast near Catalina Island.

The season two finale of the Apple TV+ series "For All Mankind" might feature an alternate-history showdown between two space powers.

More: Sally Ride: First American Woman in Space (Pictures) Ride was 32 when the STS-7 mission launched into space. Image 6 of 22 (Image credit: NASA) First African American woman in space: Mae Jemison NASA astronaut Mae Jemison flew on space shuttle Endeavour in September 1992, becoming the first African-American woman to travel to space. Koch launched to the space station on March 14, 2019 and returned to Earth on Feb. 6, 2020. Image 14 of 22 (Image credit: NASA) First Japanese woman in space: Chiaki Mukai The first Japanese woman in space was Chiaki Mukai, representing the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA). Image 17 of 22 (Image credit: Documentary Channel) First female space tourist: Anousheh Ansari Iranian-American entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari became the first female space tourist when she funded her own way to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz space capsule in 2006 through the firm Space Adventures.

When she was 10, she had surgery at St. Jude to replace her knee and get a titanium rod in her left thigh bone. Ad“My battle with cancer really prepared me for space travel,” Arceneaux said in an interview with The Associated Press. Isaacman announced his space mission Feb. 1, pledging to raise $200 million for St. Jude, half of that his own contribution. As the flight’s self-appointed commander, he offered one of the four SpaceX Dragon capsule seats to St. Jude. One will be a sweepstakes winner; anyone donating to St. Jude this month is eligible.

Thierry Chesnot/Getty Images(CNN) - Children everywhere are going to get the chance to have two historical female role models as part of their playsets. Mattel is honoring Rosa Parks and Sally Ride with their very own Barbie dolls. Rosa Parks was an American activist known as the Mother of the Modern Civil Rights Movement and Sally Ride was the first American woman -- and youngest American -- to fly in space. "Both Sally Ride and Rosa Parks made the world better for future generations of girls," a Mattel spokesperson told CNN. Showing girls more role models, historical and present, and telling their stories can help close that gap.

Today, women and minorities play prominent roles in major space operations at NASA and in private and public space companies. Today there are women in careers in the space industry that would have been unheard of 50 years ago. Through social media, women working in the space industry are highly visible today, which opens up a new world for a field once dominated by mostly white men. That outlet allows girls and young women to see someone who actually looks like them some for the first time. [STORY: You dont need to be a rocket scientist to work at a space startup, advice from new space workers ]There are also more opportunities to help young space workers get their start.