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Judith Resnik (1949–1986) was an American electrical, software and biomedical engineer, pilot and astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986. Resnik was the fourth woman and second American woman to fly in space, logging 145 hours in orbit. With a PhD in electrical engineering, she worked for RCA as an engineer on Navy missile and radar projects, and for Xerox as a senior systems engineer. She published research on special-purpose integrated circuitry. At age 28, she was selected by NASA as a mission specialist in the first NASA astronaut group to include women. While training she developed software and operating procedures for NASA missions. Her first space flight was the STS-41-D mission, the maiden voyage of Space Shuttle Discovery which launched on August 30, 1984, during which her duties included operating the orbiter's robotic arm. Her second shuttle mission was STS-51-L aboard Challenger. She died when it broke up shortly after liftoff. (Full article...)