Many people will remember the flight of the space shuttle  Challenger, in June, 1983. The achievement of Sally Ride, America's first woman astronaut to fly into space, made this flight especially memorable. Students from two Camden, New Jersey, high schools, however, are probably to remember Norma rather than Sally whenever they think about the flight.               Norma didn't travel alone. She brought about 100 companions along with her. Norma was an ant, a queen ant who, with her subject, made up the first ant colony  to travel into space. The ants were part of a science experiment designed by students to test the effects of weightlessness on insects.               The equipment designed by the students for their colony functioned perfectly throughout the long space trip. The young scientists and their teachers were very sad to find that their insect astronauts had all died at some point before the container was returned to the school and opened. The problem didn't occur in space, but on the ground after challenger had landed. The container remained in the desert for nearly a week before the ant colony was moved. The hot, dry desert air dried out the colony's container and the ants died from lack of moisture .               The project was tested success because it did provide useful information. Students will continue their efforts to pinpoint  what went wrong. They will try to prevent the same difficulties from recurring on future missions. They don't want to be discouraged either by the demise of the ants or by the $10,000 shuttle fare they will have to pay to send the next colony of ants into space. Ks5u What does the passage mainly tell us?
Sally Ride, America's first woman astronaut. How to keep ants alive in space. How to make equipment for insects in space. An experiment with ants in space.