Astronaut Ride among Hall of Fame inductees

DAYTON, Ohio – A record-setting daredevil who was the first to complete a solo balloon trip around the globe and the first American woman in space were among five people inducted Saturday into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

Steve Fossett, 63, of Beaver Creek, Colo., accepted the medallion signifying his induction and told the crowd of about 1,000 at the Dayton Convention Center that he will continue flying.

“I’m hoping you didn’t give me this award because you think my career is complete, because I’m not done,” Fossett said.

Fossett said he plans to go to Argentina in November in an effort to break a glider record.

In 2002, Fossett became the first person to fly around the world alone in a balloon. Three years later, he became the first person to fly a plane solo around the world without refueling.

Sally Ride, 56, a California native, also was inducted. She became the first U.S. woman in space when she flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. Ride returned to space aboard the Challenger in 1984 and served on the board that investigated the 1986 Challenger accident.

“I had a chance to float around weightless for a week … I got to float over to the window and take a look at the world below, a very breathtaking view,” she said.

Ride was introduced by former astronaut Robert Crippen, who commanded Ride’s flights.

“The demands placed on her as the first woman to fly in space for the United States were mind-boggling,” said Crippen, who described Ride as a team player.

Walter Boyne, historian, author and former director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum, was the first inductee enshrined at the ceremony.

Also among the inductees is 97-year-old Evelyn Bryan Johnson, who took up flying in 1944 while running her husband’s laundry business during his World War II military service.

The other inductee is Frederick Smith, a former Marine pilot and founder of air freight giant FedEx.