As a young girl, Dr. Sally Ride’s parents encouraged her to follow her dreams, which would eventually take her to heights they could never have imagined.
Born in 1951 in Encino, California, Sally began playing tennis at age 10, which led to scholarships and national ranking as a junior player. After a year and a half, she left college to pursue a tennis career. That only lasted a few months before she decided that college was a better place for her. Sally enrolled at Stanford University with a double major of English and Physics. She continued her studies at all levels at Stanford, earning her bachelor’s, master’s, and then doctorate
In 1978, while finishing her studies, Sally learned that NASA was seeking young scientists for upcoming missions. She applied and was chosen from 8,000 applicants to be one of 35 astronaut candidates to be trained. Just six of these trainees were women.
Training for the astronauts, which included parachute jumping and water survival, lasted five years. Then, in 1983, Sally became the first American woman to fly in space as part of Challenger STS-7; at age 32, this flight also made her the youngest American in space at that time. She served as the flight engineer on the crew. A year later, she flew another mission, STS-41G, to make scientific observations of Earth.
Sally was preparing for a third mission when, on January 28, 1986, America witnessed a tragedy as the Challenger exploded shortly after liftoff. She was appointed to the presidential committee to investigate the accident. Following that, she became a special assistant for long range and strategic planning at NASA.
Sally joined the faculty at University of California-San Diego in 1989. There she taught physics and was director of the California Space Institute. Along with her life partner Tam O’Shaughnessy, Sally co-authored seven children’s books about space. Desiring to make a lasting impact for her gender, she and O’Shaughnessy, with three colleagues, founded Sally Ride Science in 2001, a nonprofit designed to promote STEM studies and careers, especially for girls.
She has been honored as part of the Astronaut Hall of Fame, the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and the Aviation Hall of Fame. Additionally, she is featured on a 2022 quarter, the second in the American Women Quarters series issued by the US Mint. Sally was also posthumously honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
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