Who became the first American woman to perform a spacewalk during STS-41-G?

Kathryn Sullivan became the first American woman to perform a spacewalk during STS-41-G.

Sullivan and fellow mission specialist David Leestma conducted the approximately three-and-a-half-hour spacewalk on October 11, 1984. They tested an orbital refueling system in Challenger’s payload bay, demonstrating techniques that could support future satellite servicing and spacecraft operations.

Sullivan had joined NASA’s astronaut class of 1978, the first class to include women. STS-41-G was her first spaceflight and also included Sally Ride, making it the first mission to fly two American women together.

Sullivan is sometimes confused with Ride because Ride was the first American woman in space, in 1983. Sullivan’s distinction was different: she was the first American woman to leave the spacecraft and work in the vacuum of space. She later became the first woman to reach the deepest point in the ocean.