The Life of Sally Ride

Sally Ride: The First American Woman in Space

STS-7 Launch

Sally Ride

Part 1: Early Life

Sally was born in 1951 in Los Angeles, California. She began her undegraduate studies at Swarthmore College, and briefly considered pursuing a career as a professional tennis player (after seeing her play, Billie Jean King encouraged her to go pro). Instead, she opted to study physics and finished her bachelor’s degree at Stanford University. She stayed there, eventually completing her Master’s and PhD in physics.

This chemical slide rule was used for determining the mass of atoms and molecules. Before pocket-sized electronic calculators became available in the 1970s, slide rules were used as an aid to complex mathematical operations. Ride used this device as a university student.

While completing the program, she saw a newspaper advertisement recruiting astronauts for NASA’s next mission. She decided to apply.

NASA advertisement recruiting candidates

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Part 2: Training

In October of 1977 she went to the NASA Johnson Space Center to undergo medical tests and interviews as part of the selection process. Three months later, she was chosen with five other women and 29 men to create the first class of astronauts for the space shuttle program.

Ride began training as a mission specialist in preparation for her first mission, STS-7. Although she was training to be a scientist astronaut and not a pilot, she was required to spend 15 hours a month on board a T-38 jet practicing navigation and communication procedures while preparing herself for high performance flight. Part of the job entailed manually calculating factors such as fuel burn, ground speed, and estimated time arrival. Here, the aviation slide rule came in handy. She enjoyed flying the T-38 so much so that she took lessons and got her pilot license.

Temporary badge

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Aviation slide rule

Ride participates in a mission sequence test

Helmet Ride used during training flights

On June 15, 1983, three days before launch aboard Space Shuttle Challenger, Sally Ride takes a last look at Houston before taking off in a T-38 jet, bound for NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Ride bound for NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida

On June 18th, 1983 the STS-7 six-day mission departed

Ride described the launch as "exhilarating, terrifying and overwhelming all at the same time."

The mission carried the largest crew to date, and included:

Robert L. Crippen (Commander),
Frederick H. Hauck (Pilot),
John M. Fabian (Mission Specialist),
Sally K. Ride, (Mission Specialist), and
Norman E. Thagard (Mission Specialist)

Part Four: Communication Satellites

One of the main goals of the mission was to deploy two communications satellites: ANIK C-2 for TELESAT Canada and PALAPA-B1 for Indonesia.

Palapa B is the second generation of satellites for Indonesia. Two of the communications satellites are being built for PERUMTEL, Indonesia's state-owned telecommunications company. With its 24 transponders, Palapa B was able to deliver voice, video, telephone and high-speed data services electronically linking Indonesia's many islands and bringing advanced telecommunications to the nation's 130 million inhabitants. Palapa operated at 108 degrees east longitude.

Palapa-B Satellite medal owned by Ride

Palapa-B satellite being deployed

"The thing that I’ll remember most about the flight is that it was fun," said Ride. “In fact, I’m sure it was the most fun I’ll ever have in my life.”

Ride floating in the Challenger flight deck

Part Five: SPAS

Another important important goal of the mission was to deploy the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01). SPAS-01 was unique in that it was built to operate in the payload bay or be deployed by the RMS as a free-flying satellite.

The RMS, or Remote Manipulator System, was a robotic arm used on the Space Shuttle to deploy, maneuver, and capture payloads.

Ride’s STS-7 medallion, with robotic arm in the shape of a seven

One of Ride’s principal responsibilities was to operate the robotics arm to deploy and retrieve the SPAS-01. It was mounted with ten experiments to perform research in forming metal alloys in microgravity and use of remote sensing scanner. Seven Get Away Special canisters in cargo bay held variety of experiments, including ones studying affects of space on social behavior of ant colony in zero gravity.

The video below shows Ride collecting samples as part of those experiments:

The mission was successful, and Ride completed the first of two in her career.

Challenger floating against a black background with Earth horizon seen below

Image of challenger floating against the clouds

Part Six: Post-Mission

After a successful first mission, a second mission followed in 1984. The Challenger departed again, as part of the STS 41-G mission lasting about eight days.

In 1985 she began training for a third mission, the STS 61-M, which was cancelled after the Challenger disaster on January 28th, 1986. Ride was chosen to serve on the Presidential Commission investigating the cause of the explosion. She became the only person to serve on both that commision and the investigation of the Columbia shuttle disaster in 2003.

In 1986, a task force under the leadership of Sally Ride was asked to formulate a new strategy for NASA. The report was issued in 1987, and informally called The Ride Report. The Ride Report proposed four main initiatives for study and evaluation: Mission to Planet Earth, Exploration of the Solar System, Outpost on the Moon, Humans to Mars.

Two years later, she began working at the University of California, San Diego, as a physics professor and director of the California Space Institute.

One of her most proud achievements post-NASA was the founding of Sally Ride Science in 2001. The organization sought to counteract the gender imbalance seen in STEM by providing events, programs and products to promote science education particularly for girls.

Sally Ride is best known as the first American woman in space. Following her death on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61, she is also remembered as a soft-spoken physicist who wanted to inspire young people to consider careers in technical fields.

On May 20th, 2013 President Barack Obama announced he would award a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dr. Sally Ride. The Medal of Freedom, the Nation’s highest civilian honor, is presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

“We remember Sally Ride not just as a national hero, but as a role model to generations of young women. Sally inspired us to reach for the stars, and she advocated for a greater focus on the science, technology, engineering and math that would help us get there. Sally showed us that there are no limits to what we can achieve, and I look forward to welcoming her family to the White House as we celebrate her life and legacy.”

-Obama, 2013

Tam accepts presidential honor of freedom

Tam O'Shaughnessy, Sally Ride's life partner and the chair of the board of directors of Sally Ride Science, is seen with President Barack Obama as she prepares to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of Dr. Ride

Sally Ride, 1951-2012