Sally Ride
2023
Astronaut · Physicist
Sally Ride is one of the most well-known and celebrated astronauts to have served at NASA. She broke multiple glass ceilings related to space exploration in her lifetime and continues to inspire new generations of aspiring scientists. Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891, to John Hurston and Lucy Potts Hurston in Notasulga, Alabama. The family moved to Eatonville, Florida – the sole African American town to receive a charter in the United States.
Born in Encino, California in 1951, she was an avid and skilled tennis player and briefly considered pursuing the hobby as a career before turning to physics in college. She applied for a NASA advertisement seeking young scientists to join the program and became one of six women (along with 29 men) selected to become astronauts.
In 1983, Ride achieved her most famous accomplishment by becoming the first women to fly in space as part of a mission called STS-7. She was also the youngest American astronaut to fly – at the age of 32.
“The experience of being in space didn’t change my perspective of myself or of the planet or of life. I had no spiritual experience.”
After that historic feat, Ride’s career as an astronaut and physicist continued and saw her involved in many other impressive projects. She worked on the teams tasked with investigating the tragic accidents that befell the Challenger and Columbia space shuttles. She also served as the Director of the California Space Science Institute, a research institute of the University of California. She was a member of the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and served on the Advisory Board of the National Women’s History Museum.
Although Ride came from a family of devout Presbyterians, she mostly kept her personal beliefs about religion to herself when she became a public figure. The few statements she did make about religion were even-handed and respectful.
“I wouldn’t even say that I’m spiritual. I honestly don’t think about religion at all.”
Ride was also passionate about inspiring the next generation, especially girls and women, to pursue science. She established a nonprofit organization called Sally Ride Science dedicated to encouraging children to take an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with an emphasis on advocating for diversity and inclusion. She also wrote seven children’s books about space exploration. She ran two NASA educational outreach programs that allowed children to request images of the Earth and the moon from cameras mounted on orbiting spacecraft.
“We need to make science cool again.”
Ride succumbed to pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012, at the age of 61. But even after her passing, she broke another barrier: it was confirmed that her long-time business partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, was also her life partner, making Ride the first acknowledged member of the LGBTQIA+ community to serve in NASA.
Ride’s legacy has been honored faithfully in both the private and public spheres. She has received numerous posthumous distinctions, including being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and memorialization on both a Sally Ride Forever stamp and a U.S. quarter.