Judith Resnik

Notable people · Aviation · Space

Judith Resnik

Akron-born electrical engineer who became the second American woman in space (1984) and died in the Challenger disaster (1986).

Born April 5, 1949, Akron
Died January 28, 1986, aboard Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L), off Cape Canaveral

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: April 5, 1949, Akron (Summit County) source
Died: January 28, 1986, aboard Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L), off Cape Canaveral source
Buried: Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery (crew remains interred together 1986-05-20) source
Also known as: Judy Resnik, Judith A. Resnik
Education: Harvey S. Firestone High School, Akron, OH, to 1966
: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, to 1970, B.S. electrical engineering
: University of Maryland, College Park, MD, to 1977, M.S., Ph.D. electrical engineering
Known as: Aviation, Space
Organizations: NASA

Life story

Judith Resnik was born in Akron in 1949. Her father Marvin was an optometrist and her mother Sarah a legal secretary; the family was observant Jewish. She was valedictorian of Harvey S. Firestone High School in 1966 and earned a perfect score on the SAT.

She studied electrical engineering at Carnegie Mellon (B.S. 1970) and the University of Maryland (Ph.D. 1977). She worked as an engineer at RCA, a biomedical researcher at the National Institutes of Health and a systems engineer at Xerox.

She joined NASA in January 1978 in the first astronaut group to include women. In August-September 1984 she flew on the first mission of Discovery, STS-41-D. She died on January 28, 1986, in the Challenger disaster.

Ohio ties

Akron (1949-1966)
birthplace and childhood home Summit County · source
Akron (Fairlawn Elementary, now Judith A. Resnik Community Learning Center) (1950s)
elementary school Summit County · source
Akron (Simon Perkins Junior High; Harvey S. Firestone High School) (to 1966)
junior high and high school; Firestone valedictorian, class of 1966 Summit County · source
Akron (Beth El Congregation) (1962)
Hebrew school; bat mitzvah Summit County · source
Cleveland (NASA Lewis Research Center) (1979)
visited as astronaut candidate on July 18, 1979 Cuyahoga County · source

Timeline

1949 Born April 5 in Akron, Ohio. source
1962 Celebrated her bat mitzvah at Beth El Congregation in Akron. source
1966 Graduated as valedictorian of Firestone High School in Akron; the only woman in the country with a perfect SAT score that year. source
1970 Earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon (Carnegie Institute of Technology). source
1977 Earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland. source
1978 Selected in January as one of NASA's first six women astronaut candidates (Group 8). source
1979 Visited NASA Lewis Research Center in Northeast Ohio on July 18, speaking to employees and the public. source
1984 Flew on STS-41-D, the first flight of Discovery, becoming the second American woman in space. source
1986 Died January 28 when Challenger (STS-51-L) broke up shortly after launch. source
1986 Senator John Glenn spoke at her memorial service at Firestone High School in Akron on February 3. source
2006 Her former Fairlawn School in Akron was dedicated on December 16 as the Judith A. Resnik Community Learning Center. source
2024 On October 7 the Akron Board of Education approved a rocketship memorial and bronze statues of Resnik and Akron teacher-aviator Jean Hixson at the Resnik Community Learning Center. source

What Judith is known for

Flew STS-41-D (Discovery maiden flight), Aug-Sep 1984; second American woman in space
Killed in the STS-51-L Challenger disaster, 28 Jan 1986
Valedictorian of Harvey S. Firestone High School, 1966
STS-41-D mission specialist, 1984

Stories

Two Akron women in bronze

In October 2024 the Akron Board of Education unanimously approved a memorial outside the Resnik Community Learning Center near West Market Street in Northwest Akron. It pairs a rocketship with bronze statues of Resnik and Jean Hixson. Hixson was the second woman to break the sound barrier, in 1957, flew B-25s as a WASP in World War II, took part in the 1961 'Mercury 13' tests and taught in Akron Public Schools for 30 years until 1983. The donor, Copley contractor Paul Thomarios, was Resnik's classmate and Hixson's student, and offered to pay the whole cost so the schools would pay nothing.

Source

Glenn's eulogy at Firestone High

Six days after Challenger was lost, Ohio's senator and fellow astronaut John Glenn spoke at a memorial service for Resnik at her old high school, Firestone, in Akron, on February 3, 1986. Glenn said he had met with her in his office after her first flight. He framed the service as a celebration of her life rather than mourning, and recalled the Apollo 1 fire to say that tragedy had always accompanied triumph in spaceflight. He predicted that Resnik's own response to the disaster would have been 'Fix it and get on with it.'

Source

The astronaut candidate comes to NASA Lewis

On July 18, 1979, about 18 months after her selection, Resnik spent a day at NASA's Lewis Research Center in Northeast Ohio. She appeared on local morning television, took press-conference questions that NASA's own history article calls 'sometimes stereotypical,' and lunched with center managers. In the afternoon she narrated a film about astronaut training for employees and signed autographs. NASA's account says she was more at ease afterward mingling with students and the public at the Visitors Information Center.

Source

Honors and things named for them

Congressional Space Medal of Honor (posthumous)
NASA Space Flight Medal
Resnik House, Carnegie Mellon
Judith Resnik elementary school, Akron, OH
Resnik elementary, Gaithersburg, MD; middle school, San Antonio, TX
Crater on the Moon, crater on Venus, asteroid 3356 Resnik
IEEE Judith A. Resnik Award
Challenger Center for Space Science Education

Named for Judith Resnik

Judith A. Resnik Community Learning Center (dedicated 2006) (Akron, Summit County) source

Family

father: Marvin Resnik
mother: Sarah Resnik
brother: Charles Resnik

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments.

Astronaut Judith Resnik Ohio historical marker (24-77), Firestone High School
Akron (Northwest) Summit County · source
Judith A. Resnik Community Learning Center (former Fairlawn Elementary)
Akron (Northwest, near West Market Street) Summit County · source
Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington source

Places in Ohio to see

Harvey S. Firestone High School (park)
470 Castle Blvd, Akron, Summit County ZIP 44313 · Akron · Summit County · official page

Ohio places

Where Judith Resnik was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: Akron, Summit County ZIP 44308 · Akron · Summit County
School: Akron (Harvey S. Firestone High School), Summit County ZIP 44313 · Akron · Summit County

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Judith Resnik, and what the record shows.

Often said Resnik was the second woman in space.

The record NASA and other sources describe her as the second American woman in space, on STS-41-D in 1984. Some sources, such as the Clio entry for her Firestone marker, drop the word 'American.' source

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

Judith Resnik first flew as a mission specialist on STS 41-D which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Flo...
No known restrictions
NASAs first six women astronauts pose with a mockup of a personal rescue enclosure (PRE) or "rescue ball" in t...
Public domain
Astronaut Judith A. Resnik, one of three mission specialists, positions herself on the floor of the Space Shut...
No known restrictions
Crewmembers of NASA's 41-D mission take a group shot displaying their fun moments in space aboard the orbiter ...
Public domain
View of Mission Specialist Judith Resnik sitting on the floor of the middeck. Beside her on a notebook is a no...
Public domain
View of Mission Specialist Judith Resnik sitting on the floor of the middeck. Beside her on a notebook is a no...
Public domain
The crew of Space Shuttle mission STS-51-L pose for their official portrait on November 15, 1985. In the back ...
Public domain
Crew members of mission STS-51L stand in the White Room at Pad 39B following the end of the Terminal Countdown...
Public domain
The STS-51L Challenger flight crew emergency egress training in the slide wire baskets. From left to right the...
Public domain
STS-51-L astronauts Onizuka, left, McAuliffe, Smith, Scobee, Resnik, McNair, and Jarvis enjoy the traditional ...
Public domain
A flight suit worn by Judy Resnik on display at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
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Amy Resnik, wife of Chuck Resnik, touches the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial after a wreath laying ceremony...
Public domain