In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to go up into outer space (just a couple decades after Star Trek had introduced that idea to pop culture). It would be easy to just say the aforementioned sentence and call it a day, but Ride had a very extensive career with NASA. She also holds more than one “first” record than just being the first female astronaut to swear allegiance to the stars and stripes. If you’re interested in learning more about this remarkable figure in the history of American space travel, keep reading!
1. Good Job, Junior!
In addition to her being the first American woman in space, Ride was also the youngest American astronaut to see Earth from a bird’s eye view (she was 32 at the time). In fact, that is a record which Ride still holds to this day (as of May 2019, at least).
2. Welcome to Earth
Sally Kristen Ride was born in the town of Encino, California on the 26th of May 1951. She was the elder daughter of Dale Burdell Ride and Carol Joyce Ride.
3. More Than One Option
Long before Ride ever qualified to become an astronaut for NASA, she was very accomplished tennis player. Such was her skill level that she was a nationally ranked player who competed in various tournaments nationwide. Does this mean that there’s an alternate timeline where Sally Ride became a famous athlete instead of a famous astronaut?
4. Hindsight is 20/20
Previous joke aside, we should admit that for Ride herself, tennis was certainly a passion, but it wasn’t going to be her career choice. Space and science always interested her in school, and she allegedly viewed science as the road to a long-term career as opposed to tennis. Of course, this could be an adult looking back and revising her memory of how she felt at the time, but we’re inclined to take her word for it.
5. Academic Inspiration
Two American elementary schools are named after her. You can find them in The Woodlands, Texas and Germantown, Maryland.
6. Go Find God While You’re Up There!
Ride’s family was very closely tied to the Presbyterian Church. Both her parents were elders within that religious organization, while her younger sister Karen is still a Presbyterian minister.
7. Can’t be Too Prepared
According to Ride herself, preparation for a space mission is so extensive that one is often an astronaut for a few years before they are even assigned to a flight. Assignment to a flight then led to a year of specific training with one’s team with whom they’re going into space. Such was the case with Ride herself prior to her own mission.
8. You Call Me Doctor!
Among Ride’s academic accomplishments, she earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a PHD, all from Stanford University. All of them were for the subject of physics.
9. Myself and Five Others
Despite being the first American woman in space, Ride was not the only woman in her astronaut class. Ride herself confirmed in an interview that she was one of six women in her class.
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10. Welcome Back, Alumnus!
Aside from her studies at Stanford University, Ride also spent two years working at the university’s Center for International Security and Arms Control. This occurred after she left her position with NASA in Washington D.C.
11. In on the First Attempt
In 1978, NASA selected women for their astronaut training for the first time in the organization’s existence. After reading an advertisement in the student newspaper at Stanford University, Ride put forward her own application. She was chosen to be part of NASA Astronaut Group 8.
12. Ahoy!
In 2013, the U.S. Navy paid tribute to Ride by naming a research vessel after her. For anyone curious, this ship is called the Sally Ride (AGOR-28) and it is currently operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
13. What a Hero
That same year as she got a ship named after her, Ride was also presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest non-military honor in the U.S.). It was presented to her at the White House by then-President Barack Obama.
14. Passing the Time
According to Ride herself, her main hobbies were running, hiking, and stamp collecting. In the case of the latter, her focus was either Olympic or space stamps (big surprise there!).
15. Mixed Response
Fittingly, the U.S. Postal Service would pay tribute to Ride after her passing by putting her image on a stamp. This first-class postage stamp was issued in 2018, six years after Ride’s death. Given Ride’s love for stamp collecting, we’re not sure whether she’d have been proud to have that distinction, or whether she’d have been annoyed at them not issuing it within her own lifetime so she could make it part of her collection!
16. The Russians Were Ahead of the Curve
Despite being the first American woman in space, Ride was only the third woman to hold that honor. The first two women in space were Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya. In case you’re curious, Tereshkova had gone into space around nineteen years before Ride’s voyage!
17. Welcome to the Hall
In 2006, Ride was inducted into the California Hall of Fame at the California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts. The ceremony was led by California’s then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his then-wife Maria Shriver.
18. Professional Relationship
In 1982, Ride married Steven Hawley, one of the other astronauts who made up the NASA Astronaut Group 8 (Hawley would go into space two years after Ride made her first space voyage).
19. There Today, Gone Tomorrow
Ride’s marriage to Hawley was a short one, however. The couple would finalize their divorce in 1987.
20. Keeping Busy
Among Ride’s tasks in space was included the study of the planet. According to Ride, she and the other astronauts brought high-resolution cameras to study Earth, as well as planned experiments with radar.
21. Everyone Has a Task
On her shuttle mission, Ride served as a mission specialist due to her expertise in physics. She compared her role to a flight engineer on an airplane, in that she oversaw the launch and landing of the shuttle. She was also in charge of operating several experiments in space and launching two satellites. Sadly, these tasks did not include getting to do a space walk!
22. A Unique Record
Ride was the only person to serve on both investigative committees which looked into the Challenger and Columbia disasters, respectively (more on that later).
23. But How Many Seconds!?
Because NASA is rather meticulous about details, we know almost the exact amount of time that Ride spent orbiting the globe. Her time in space played out across 14 days, 7 hours, and 46 minutes. It might seem like a brief amount of time but it’s far more than most of us will ever accomplish!
24. Nice to be Involved
In 2009, a review was commissioned to make sure that the United States was on a “vigorous and sustainable path to achieving its boldest aspirations in space.” The group who put together the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee (as it was called) included Ride as a veteran astronaut and accomplished scientist.
25. Here We Go!
Predictably, Ride was asked what the scariest moment of her shuttle missions were. Ride clarified that during her times in space, there were thankfully no close calls or near disasters. She did admit, however, that the launching was always an intensely thrilling and dramatic moment for her.
26. Silver Screen Appearance
Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the supernatural show Touched by an Angel was a popular program in the U.S. Among the many people who appeared in it was none other than Ride, playing herself. In case anyone’s interested, the episode in question was the finale of the fifth season titled “Godspeed.”
27. The Worst-Case Scenario
On the 28th of January 1986, the space shuttle known as Challenger broke apart less than two minutes into its tenth flight. All seven of the people on board died during the disaster. At the time, Ride was eight months into training for her third ride into space.
28. When My Heart Stopped
As devastating as the Challenger disaster was for the nation, it was especially hard for Ride given how close she’d been to the people who had died. Four of the astronauts had been in her class, meaning that she’d known them closely for eight years before the disaster. Despite this closeness to the tragedy, Ride served on the investigation committee formed in the aftermath of the tragedy.
29. Well, That Answers That Question
As you can imagine, Ride was asked whether she preferred launching into space or landing back onto earth. In Ride’s own words: “And it's very different from any experience you can have on earth. Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it's not the same — it's not even close to the same. It's a very exciting experience. Landing is very exciting, too, but during landing the space shuttle acts very much like an airplane. So although it's different in many ways from landing on an airplane, in some ways the feeling is familiar.”
30. Farewell, Space Voyager
In February 2011, Ride was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Sadly, despite receiving treatment, she died seventeen months later on the 23rd of July 2012. She was 61 years old.
31. Music in Your Soul!
Less than a year after Ride’s death, two different songs were released which paid tribute to her life and legacy. One was the song “Sally Ride” by Janelle Monae, and the other was “Ride On” by veteran astronauts Chris Hadfield and Catherine Colman.
32. Showing Solidarity
Six months prior to the Challenger disaster, one of the engineers tried to warn the company which employed him on the space shuttle construction of such an incident happening. For his troubles, Roger Boisjoly was shunned by the workforce within Morton-Thiokol. For her part, Ride publicly supported Boisjoly for doing what he felt was necessary. Boisjoly later credited Ride for being the only person to show support for him.
33. Love of My Life
It wasn’t until after Ride’s death that it came out that she is the first recognized LGBTQ woman to go into space! Ride was the long-term partner of university professor and writer Tam O’Shaughnessy. The two women began their relationship in 1985 and would remain together until Ride’s death.
34. Meant to Be
Ride’s relationship with Tam O’Shaughnessy actually went back to Ride’s early years playing tennis. The two of them met while competing in tournaments and remained close for the rest of their lives, eventually as romantic partners. Interestingly, O’Shaughnessy had been mentored by none other than tennis playing legend Billie Jean King, who was also one of Ride’s heroes when she was growing up.
35. She’d Have Liked That
For their first match of the year in March 2019, the entire United States women’s national soccer team took part in a special tribute to the women who served as inspirations to them. Each member of the team wore the name of such an inspiration on their jerseys while they played. Ride’s name adorned the jersey of Tierna Davidson.
36. Sally Ride, the Science Gal
In an attempt to encourage the study of science amongst children, Ride was involved in writing seven different children’s books with a heavy emphasis on space. Six of these stories were co-written by Ride’s partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy.
37. Don’t Mind Me
According to Ride’s sister, Karen, she was an intensely private person. Not only was she very secretive about her relationship with Tam O’Shaughnessy (and we can imagine a few reasons for that), but she also kept most people in the dark about her illness and treatment attempts.
38. It Looks so Small from Up Here!
When asked to name her favorite parts of space travel, Ride chose the feeling of weightlessness, as well as the view of Earth from space. Ride confided that when she managed to get time off from missions or experiments, she spent that free time looking out the window and taking in the majesty of our planet. No doubt, David Attenborough would have found a better way of wording that!
39. In the Name of Science
In 2001, Ride and her partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, founded the company called Sally Ride Science. Based in San Diego, the company strives to encourage young people to pursue science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. It also runs several different programs which provide professional development to teachers and encourage students to pursue the sciences.
40. Wait, What?!
As many of you can sadly imagine, Ride was subjected to some baffling questions from the media prior to her going up into space. Among the most ludicrous questions allegedly thrown her way were “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs” and “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?” We’d like to say that the 1980s was a different time, but while that’s arguably true, we still have a long way to go.
41. This Shouldn’t be a Novel Concept
While many people in the United States reacted strongly to the concept of a female NASA astronaut going into space, Ride herself preferred to play it down. She later pointed out that she saw herself as an astronaut doing her job and nothing more.
42. Honorable Mention
In the late 1980s, the LGBTQ community in the United States fought many battles for their civil rights, even as the AIDS crisis was claiming so many lives. One project which emerged from this period was the Legacy Walk in Chicago. This outdoor public display is a celebration of the contributions that LGBTQ people made to world history, one of the only ones of its kind. After Ride’s orientation was revealed, it was only fitting that she received proper mention. In 2014, Ride was inducted into the Legacy Walk.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
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