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{{Short description|American physicist and astronaut (1951–2012)}}
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{{Infobox person
| image              = Sally Ride (1984).jpg
| caption            = Ride in 1984
| alt                = portrait
| birth_name         = Sally Kristen Ride
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1951|5|26}}
| birth_place        = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2012|7|23|1951|5|26}}
| death_place        = [[La Jolla]], California, U.S.
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Steven Hawley]]|1982|1987|end=div}}
| partner            = [[Tam O'Shaughnessy]] (1985–2012)
| education          = [[Swarthmore College]]<br>[[University of California, Los Angeles]]<br>[[Stanford University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[Master of Science|MS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| awards             = [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (2013, posthumous)
| module             = {{Infobox astronaut
|child           = yes
|type            = [[NASA]] astronaut
|selection       = [[NASA Astronaut Group 8|NASA Group 8 (1978)]]
|time            = 14d 7h 46m
|mission         = {{ubl|
*[[STS-7]]
*[[STS-41-G]]}}
|insignia        = [[File:STS-7_patch.svg|45px|alt=STS-7 mission patch]] [[File:STS-41G_Patch.svg|45px|alt=STS-41-G mission patch]]
|retirement      = August 15, 1987}}
}}
'''Sally Kristen Ride''' (May 26, 1951&nbsp;– July 23, 2012) was an American [[astronaut]] and [[physicist]]. Born in [[Los Angeles]], she joined [[NASA]] in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in [[outer space|space]], after [[cosmonaut]]s [[Valentina Tereshkova]] in 1963 and [[Svetlana Savitskaya]] in 1982. She was the youngest American astronaut to have flown in space, having done so at the age of 32.

Ride was a graduate of [[Stanford University]], where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature in 1973, a Master of Science degree in 1975, and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1978 (both in physics) for research on the interaction of [[X-ray]]s with the interstellar medium. She was selected as a [[mission specialist]] astronaut with [[NASA Astronaut Group 8]], the first class of NASA astronauts to include women. After completing her training in 1979, she served as the ground-based [[capsule communicator]] (CapCom) for the second and third [[Space Shuttle]] flights, and helped develop the Space Shuttle's [[Canadarm|robotic arm]]. In June 1983, she flew in space on the {{OV|Challenger|full=nolink}} on the [[STS-7]] mission. The mission deployed two communications satellites and the first [[Shuttle pallet satellite]] (SPAS-1). Ride operated the robotic arm to deploy and retrieve SPAS-1. Her second space flight was the [[STS-41-G]] mission in 1984, also on board ''Challenger''. She spent a total of more than 343 hours in space. She left NASA in 1987.

Ride worked for two years at Stanford University's [[Center for International Security and Cooperation|Center for International Security and Arms Control]], then at the [[University of California, San Diego]], primarily researching [[nonlinear optics]] and [[Thomson scattering]]. She served on the committees that investigated the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|loss of ''Challenger'']] and [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|of ''Columbia'']], the only person to participate in both. Having been married to astronaut [[Steven Hawley]] during her spaceflight years and in a private, long-term relationship with former [[Women's Tennis Association]] player [[Tam O'Shaughnessy]], she is the first astronaut known to have been [[LGBTQ]], a fact that she hid until her death, when her obituary identified O'Shaughnessy as her partner of 27 years.<ref>{{cite news| last=Simonpillai | first=Radheyan | title='People didn't like women in space': how Sally Ride made history and paid the price |newspaper=The Guardian | date=15 June 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jun/15/sally-ride-documentary}}</ref> She died of [[pancreatic cancer]] in 2012.

==Early life==
Sally Kristen Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in the [[Encino, Los Angeles|Encino]] neighborhood of Los Angeles, California,<ref name="ride1" /><ref name="Sherr2014">{{cite book |last1=Sherr |first1=Lynn |author1-link=Lynn Sherr |title=Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space |date=2014 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4767-2578-9 |oclc= 885483468}}</ref>{{rp|p=6}} the elder child of Dale Burdell Ride and Carol Joyce Ride {{née|Anderson}}.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=4–6}} She had one sibling, Karen, known as "Bear".<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=7–8}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boyle |first1=Alan |title=Why Sally Ride waited until her death to tell the world she was gay |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/why-sally-ride-waited-until-her-death-tell-world-she-f908942 |website=Cosmic Log |publisher=[[NBC News]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505120803/https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/why-sally-ride-waited-until-her-death-tell-world-she-f908942 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both parents were [[Presbyterian polity#Elder|elders]] in the [[Presbyterian Church]]. Her mother, who was of Norwegian descent, had worked as a volunteer counselor at a women's correctional facility.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |last1=Grady |first1=Denise |title=American Woman Who Shattered Space Ceiling |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/science/space/sally-ride-trailblazing-astronaut-dies-at-61.html |access-date=May 5, 2021 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505105344/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/science/space/sally-ride-trailblazing-astronaut-dies-at-61.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her father served with the [[U.S. Army]] in Europe with the [[103rd Infantry Division (United States)|103rd Infantry Division]] during [[World War II]]. After the war he went to [[Haverford College]] on the [[G.I. Bill]], earned a master's degree in education at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]],<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=4–6}} and became a political science professor at [[Santa Monica College]].<ref name=obit />

Ride grew up in the [[Van Nuys]] and Encino neighborhoods of Los Angeles. In 1960, when she was nine years old, the family spent a year traveling in Europe. In Spain, Ride played tennis for the first time.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=12–15}} She enjoyed sports, tennis most of all, and at age 10 was coached by [[Alice Marble]], a former world number one player.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pioneering Astronaut Sally Ride Almost Opted For Tennis |website=[[ThePostGame]] |publisher=[[Yahoo! Sports]] |date=July 23, 2012 |first=Jeff |last=Eisenband |url=http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/throwback/201207/pioneering-astronaut-sally-ride-almost-opted-tennis |access-date=March 4, 2022 |archive-date=December 23, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223000637/http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/throwback/201207/pioneering-astronaut-sally-ride-almost-opted-tennis |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1963 Ride was ranked number 20 in Southern California for girls aged 12 and under.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=22}} She attended Encino Elementary School, Portola Junior High (now [[Portola Middle School (Tarzana)|Portola Middle School]]), [[Birmingham High School]] and then, as a [[sophomore]] on a tennis scholarship, [[Harvard-Westlake|Westlake School for Girls]], an exclusive all-girls private school in Los Angeles.<ref name=obit /><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=19–22}} Elizabeth Mommaerts, who taught human physiology, became a mentor. Ride resolved to become an [[astrophysicist]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Friend Charts Her Path to Space |last=Okie |first=Susan |date=May 8, 1983 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/05/08/friend-charts-her-path-to-space/3d5ce945-bb6b-4eee-bb4a-0fde7261a718/ |access-date=March 3, 2022}}</ref> She graduated in June 1968, and then took a class in advanced math at Santa Monica College during the summer break.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=30–31}}

Her friend Sue Okie was interested in going to [[Swarthmore College]] in Pennsylvania, so Ride applied too. She was interviewed by [[Fred Hargadon]], the dean of admissions, who was impressed by both her mental and her tennis ability. She was admitted on a full scholarship.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=28–29}} She commenced classes at Swarthmore on September 18, 1968. She played golf, and made Swarthmore's [[field hockey]] [[varsity team]]. She won all six of her intercollegiate tennis matches, and became the Eastern Intercollegiate Women's Singles champion. She defended her title in May 1969, winning in [[straight sets]]. However, Ride was homesick for California, and, before [[Title IX]], women's tennis was not well-supported at the college level; Swarthmore had four tennis courts but no indoor courts and she could not practice when it snowed. After three semesters at Swarthmore, she returned to California in January 1970, with the aim of becoming a professional tennis player.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=32–38}}

Ride entered the University of California, Los Angeles, where she enrolled in courses in [[Shakespeare]] and [[quantum mechanics]], earning A's in both subjects. She was the only woman majoring in physics. She was romantically involved with the [[teaching assistant]], John Tompkins, but the relationship ended in September when he went to Moscow to conduct research at the [[Institute for High Energy Physics]]. Her foray into professional tennis was unsuccessful; after playing three matches in a single August morning her whole body ached the following day. She realized that far more effort would be necessary in order to reach the required level of fitness: she needed to practice for eight hours a day. She concluded that she did not have what it took to be a professional tennis player.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=40–42}}

Ride applied for a transfer to [[Stanford University]] as a [[Junior (education year)|junior]]. The tennis coach was eager to have her on the team, and by coincidence, Fred Hargadon was now the dean of admissions there. He was once again instrumental in approving her admission. She graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=44–45}} She then earned a Master of Science degree in physics in 1975 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1978.<ref name="ride1">{{cite web |author1=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |author1-link=Johnson Space Center |title=Sally K. Ride |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ride_sally.pdf |website=Biographical Data |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505110142/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ride_sally.pdf |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=[[Houston]], Texas |date=July 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Astrophysics and [[free-electron laser]]s were her areas of study.<ref name="forbes20120723">{{cite magazine|last1=Knapp |first1=Alex |title=Sally Ride, First American Woman In Space, Dead At 61 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/07/23/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dead-at-61/?sh=5735638b265d |access-date=July 23, 2012 |magazine=[[Forbes]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505121756/https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/07/23/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dead-at-61/?sh=5735638b265d |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=Jersey City, New Jersey |url-status=live}}</ref> She wrote her doctoral dissertation on "the interaction of [[X-rays]] with the [[interstellar medium]]",<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Sally |last=Ride |degree=PhD |title=The interaction of X-rays with the interstellar medium |year=1978|publisher=Stanford University |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/734780 |access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref> under the supervision of [[Arthur B. C. Walker Jr.]]<ref>{{cite magazine |title= Arthur B. C. Walker II: X-ray Astrophysicist |magazine=[[Sky & Telescope]]  |url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/famous-astronomers/arthur-b-c-walker-ii-x-ray-astrophysicist/ |first=Ana V. |last=Aceves |date=August 4, 2016 |access-date=March 4, 2022}}</ref>

At Stanford, Ride renewed her acquaintance with Molly Tyson, who was a year younger than her. The two had met on the tennis circuit as junior tennis players. Although Ride was rated number one at Stanford and Tyson was number six, the two played [[doubles (tennis)|doubles]] together. Ride later quit the Stanford tennis team in protest against the university's refusal to join the [[Pac-8 Conference]] in women's tennis.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=45–49}} To earn money Ride and her then-girlfriend Tyson gave tennis lessons, and in 1971 and 1972 they were counselors at [[Dennis Van der Meer]]'s TennisAmerica [[summer camp]] at [[Lake Tahoe, Nevada]]. In August 1972, Ride played in a doubles match with Van der Meer against [[Billie Jean King]], the [[world number 1 ranked female tennis players|world number 1 ranked female tennis player]], and Dick Peters, the camp director; [[Martin Luther King III]] and [[Dexter King]] served as [[ball boys]]. Billie Jean King became a mentor and a friend. Ride watched her win the [[Battle of the Sexes (tennis)|Battle of the Sexes]] match against [[Bobby Riggs]] in 1973. Tyson ended their relationship in 1975, and Ride moved in with Bill Colson, a fellow graduate physics student who was recently divorced.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=54–60}}

== NASA astronaut ==
===Selection and training===
{{main|NASA Astronaut Group 8}}
[[File:S83-32724.jpg|thumb|right|During training in May 1983|alt=Ride standing in a doorway in a NASA uniform]]
In January 1977, Ride spotted an article on the front page of ''[[The Stanford Daily]]'' that told how the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) was recruiting a new group of [[astronaut]]s  for the [[Space Shuttle]] program and wanted to recruit women. No women had previously been NASA astronauts, although the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[cosmonaut]] [[Valentina Tereshkova]] had flown in space in 1963. Ride mailed a request for, and received the application forms. When asked for three persons with knowledge of her qualifications, she gave the names of three of her peers from college with whom she had been in relationships: Colson, Tompkins and Tyson.<ref>{{cite news |title=NASA to Recruit Women |newspaper=[[The Stanford Daily]] |first=Will |last=Nixon |date=January 12, 1977 |page=1 |url=https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1977/01/12?page=1 |access-date=March 5, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=78–82}}

Ride's was one of 8,079 applications NASA received by the June 30, 1977, deadline. She then became one of 208 finalists.<ref name="selection">{{cite press release |first=Milton |last=Reim |title=NASA Selects 35 Astronaut Candidates |id=78-03 |date=January 16, 1978 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83130main_1978.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010170007/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83130main_1978.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-10 |url-status=live |access-date=September 17, 2020}}</ref> She was the only woman among the twenty applicants in the sixth group, all applicants for [[mission specialist]] positions, who reported to  NASA's [[Johnson Space Center]] (JSC) in [[Houston]], Texas, on October 3, for a week of  interviews and medical examinations.<ref>{{cite press release |id=77-56 |title=Sixth Group Of Astronaut Applicants- All Mission Specialists |date=October 3, 1977 |first=Milton E. |last=Reim |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83129main_1977.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011015017/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83129main_1977.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-11 |url-status=live |access-date=March 6, 2022 }}</ref> Her physical fitness impressed the doctors. They placed her in a [[Personal Rescue Enclosure]], a ball 36 inches (91 cm) in diameter, to see if she suffered from [[claustrophobia]]. She was asked to write a one-page essay on why she wanted to become an astronaut. Finally, she was interviewed by the selection committee.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=85–89}} On January 16, 1978, she received a phone call from [[George Abbey (NASA)|George Abbey]], NASA's director of flight operations, who informed her that she had been selected as part of [[NASA Astronaut Group 8]]. She was one of 35 astronaut candidates in the group, of whom six were women.<ref name="selection" />

[[File:Astronaut Sally K. Ride, STS-7 mission specialist, in a T-38 jet.jpg|thumb|left|In a NASA [[T-38 Talon]] jet|alt=refer to caption]]
Group 8's name for itself was "TFNG". The abbreviation was deliberately ambiguous; for public purposes, it stood for "Thirty-Five New Guys", but within the group itself, it was known to stand for the military phrase, "[[Fucking New Guy|the fucking new guy]]", used to denote newcomers to a [[military unit]].<ref name="Mullane2007">{{cite book |last=Mullane |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Mullane |title=Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut|year=2007 |publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-7683-2 |oclc=671034758 }}</ref>{{rp|p=63}} Officially, they were [[astronaut candidate]]s; they would not become fully-fledged astronauts until they had completed their training. Ride was graded a [[United States federal civil service|civil service]] GS-12, with a salary of US$21,883 ({{Inflation|US|21883|1978|fmt=eq}}). She bought a [[housing unit]] in the [[Nassau Bay, Texas]], area, and moved in with Colson, who secured a research grant at [[Rice University]] so they could move to Houston together. He became the only unmarried astronaut candidate's partner.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=95–101}} Ride and Colson split up in January 1979, and she briefly dated fellow astronaut candidate [[Robert L. Gibson|Robert "Hoot" Gibson]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=118–120}}

Astronaut candidate training included learning to fly NASA's [[T-38 Talon]] jet aircraft. Officially, mission specialists did not have to qualify as pilots, only ride in the back seat and handle an emergency if the pilot became incapacitated. They were never to control the aircraft below {{convert|5000|ft}}, but many of the astronaut pilots and pilot candidates, eager to share their love of flying, ignored the rules, and let the more proficient mission specialist candidates fly the jets lower. [[John Fabian]] even had her fly "under the hood", with the windows blacked out and using instruments only. Ride enjoyed flying so much she took private flying lessons to earn a [[private pilot's license]]. She bought a part interest in a [[Grumman American AA-5|Grumman Tiger]] aircraft, which she would fly on weekends.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=95–101}} On August 31, 1979, NASA announced that the 35 astronaut candidates had completed their training and evaluation, and were now officially astronauts, qualified for selection on space flight crews.<ref>{{cite press release |title=35 Astronaut Candidates Complete Training and Evaluation Period |id=79-53 |publisher=[[NASA]] |date=August 31, 1979 |first=Milton |last=Reim |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010170330/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-10 |url-status=live |access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref>

In 1981, Ride began dating [[Steven Hawley]], another one of the TFNGs. They moved in together, and considered themselves engaged. Unlike Colson, he was not aware of her earlier relationship with Tyson.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=121}} They were married on July 26, 1982, in the backyard of Hawley's parents' house in [[Salina, Kansas]]. Ride flew up from Houston for the occasion in her Grumman Tiger, and wore white jeans. The ceremony was jointly conducted by Hawley's father Bernard, the pastor at the local Presbyterian church, and Ride's sister Bear. It was deliberately kept low-key, with only parents and siblings in attendance. They became the third NASA astronaut couple, after [[Rhea Seddon]] and Hoot Gibson, who had married a few months before, and [[Anna Lee Fisher|Anna Fisher]] and her husband [[William Frederick Fisher|Bill Fisher]], who became an astronaut couple when the latter was selected with [[NASA Astronaut Group 9]] in 1980. Ride did not [[Maiden and married names#Retain the birth name|take her husband's name]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=138–142}}

===STS-7===
{{Main|STS-7}}
[[File:Sally Ride, America's first woman astronaut communicates with ground controllers from the flight deck - NARA - 541940.jpg|thumb|right|Communicating with ground controllers from the flight deck during the [[STS-7]] mission|alt=refer to caption]]
Ride served as a ground-based [[capsule communicator]] (CapCom) for the [[STS-2|second]] and [[STS-3|third]] Space Shuttle flights, and helped develop the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS), also known as the  "[[Canadarm]]" or robot arm.<ref name="People1983">{{cite magazine |last1=Ryan |first1=Michael |title=A Ride in Space |url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-a-ride-in-space-vol-19-no-24/ |access-date=April 13, 2014 |magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]  |date=June 20, 1983 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505122617/https://people.com/archive/cover-story-a-ride-in-space-vol-19-no-24/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021  |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="jplbio">{{cite web |author1=Planetary Science Communications |author1-link=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |title=Sally Ride (1951–2012) |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/1760/sally-ride-1951-2012/ |website=Solar System Exploration |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=November 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505124028/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/1760/sally-ride-1951-2012/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=[[La Cañada Flintridge, California]] |url-status=live}}</ref> She was the first woman to serve as a CapCom.<ref>{{cite web |title=40 Years Ago: Columbia Returns to Space on the STS-2 Mission  |date= November 12, 2021 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/40-years-ago-columbia-returns-to-space-on-the-sts-2-mission |access-date=March 21, 2022}}</ref> By early 1982, George Abbey and the [[Chief of the Astronaut Office]], [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]], wanted to begin scheduling missions with the TFNGs, starting with the [[STS-7|seventh Space Shuttle mission]]. To command it, they chose [[Robert Crippen]], who had flown with Young on the [[STS-1|first Space Shuttle mission]]. They wanted a woman to fly on the mission, and since the mission involved the use of the RMS, the choice narrowed to Ride, [[Judy Resnik]] and Anna Fisher, who had specialized on it. Factors in Ride's favor included her agreeable personality and ability to work with others, her performance as CapCom, and her skill with the robot arm. However, JSC director [[Chris Kraft]] preferred Fisher, and Abbey had to defend their decision. NASA Headquarters ultimately approved Ride's selection,<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=126–130}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shayler |first1=David J. |last2=Burgess |first2=Colin |author-link2=Colin Burgess (author) |year=2020 |title=NASA's First Space Shuttle Astronaut selection: Redefining the Right Stuff |publisher=Praxis Publishing |location=Chicester, UK |isbn=978-3030-45741-9 |oclc=1145568343 }}</ref>{{rp|pp=290–293}} which was officially announced in April 1982.<ref>{{cite press release |first=John |last=Lawrence |id=82-023 |date=April 19, 1982 |title=Three Shuttle Crews Announced |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83134main_1982.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011021103/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83134main_1982.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-11 |url-status=live |access-date=March 6, 2022 }}</ref>

As the first American woman to fly in space, Ride was subjected to media attention. There were over five hundred requests for private interviews, all of which were declined. Instead, NASA hosted the usual pre-launch press conference on May 24, 1983.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=131, 147}} Ride was asked questions such as, "Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?" and "Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?" She insisted that she saw herself in only one way—as an astronaut.<ref name="People1983" /> NASA was still adjusting to female astronauts, and engineers had asked Ride to assist them in developing a "space makeup kit", assuming it would be something a woman would want on board. They also infamously suggested providing Ride with a supply of 100 [[tampon]]s for the six-day mission.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blakemore |first=Erin |title=When Sally Ride Took Her First Space Flight, Sexism Was the Norm |url=https://www.history.com/news/sally-ride-first-astronaut-sexism |access-date=April 5, 2022 |website=[[History (American TV network)|History.com]] |date=June 18, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schwarcz |first=Joe |author-link=Joseph A. Schwarcz |title=A Feast of Science: Intriguing Morsels from the Science of Everyday Life |date=May 22, 2018 |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-77305-134-5 |oclc=1003797634 }}</ref>{{rp|pp=176–177}}

[[File:STS007-14-629.jpg|thumb|left|Floating freely on the flight deck of the {{OV|Challenger}} during the [[STS-7]] mission. Left from her head float three [[Hewlett-Packard]] [[HP-41C|HP-41 series]] pocket calculators [[modding|customized]] by NASA, which were used for various tasks on board.|alt=refer to caption]]
When the {{OV|Challenger|full=nolink}} lifted off from the [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) on June 18, 1983, Ride became the first American woman to fly in space, and the third woman overall.<ref name="obit" /> She also became the youngest American astronaut in space, although there had been younger Soviet cosmonauts.<ref name="Youngest">{{cite web  |last1=Grinter|first1=Kay |title=Kennedy Space Center FAQ |url=https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/pao/faq/faqanswers.htm |website=Science, Technology and Engineering |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505110922/https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/pao/faq/faqanswers.htm |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=Merritt Island, Florida |date=November 17, 2000 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many of the people attending the launch wore T-shirts bearing the words "Ride, Sally Ride", lyrics from [[Wilson Pickett]]'s song "[[Mustang Sally (song)|Mustang Sally]]".<ref name="obit" /> The purpose of the mission was to deploy two [[communications satellite]]s: [[Anik (satellite)|Anik C2]] for [[Telesat]] of Canada and [[Palapa|Palapa B1]] for Indonesia. Both were deployed during the first two days of the mission.<ref name="STS-7">{{cite web |title= STS-7 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-7.html |access-date=March 17, 2022}}</ref>

The mission also carried the first [[Shuttle pallet satellite]] (SPAS-1), which carried ten experiments to study formation of metal [[alloy]]s in [[Micro-g environment|microgravity]]. Part of Ride's job was to operate the robot arm to deploy and later retrieve SPAS-1, which was brought back to Earth. The orbiter's small [[Reaction control system]] rockets were fired while SPAS-1 was held by the remote manipulator system to test the movement on an extended arm.<ref name="sts7postreport" /> STS-7 was also the first occasion on which the Space Shuttle in orbit was photographed, using the camera on SPAS-1. Ride manipulated the robot arm into the shape of a "7", as it appeared on the mission patch.<ref>{{cite web |title=Patch, Mission, STS-7, Challenger, Sally Ride |website=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]  |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/patch-mission-sts-7-challenger-sally-ride/nasm_A20140294000 |access-date=March 17, 2022}}</ref> The mission also studied [[Space adaptation syndrome]], a bout of [[nausea]] frequently experienced by astronauts during the early phase of a space flight.<ref name="sts7postreport">{{cite web |last1=Abrahamson |first1=James A. |title=Space Transportation System Mission STS-7 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19830023440/downloads/19830023440.pdf |website=NTRS – NASA Technical Reports Server |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505125151/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19830023440/downloads/19830023440.pdf |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=August 5, 1983 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ride1" /> Ride was not affected and did not require medication for the syndrome.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=180}} Bad weather forced ''Challenger'' to land at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] in California instead of the [[Shuttle Landing Facility]] at the KSC.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=165}} The mission lasted 6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes and 59 seconds.<ref name="STS-7" />

Now a celebrity, Ride, along with her STS-7 crewmates, spent the next few months after her flight on tour. She met with the [[Governor of California]], [[George Deukmejian]], and the [[Mayor of New York]], [[Ed Koch]]. She testified before the Congressional Space Caucus on the efficacy of the robot arm, and addressed the [[National Press Club (United States)|National Press Club]], but declined to appear with [[Bob Hope]], whom she regarded as sexist. The crew presented President [[Ronald Reagan]] with [[jelly bean]]s that had been flown on the flight.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=171–177}} In September 1983, on her own initiative, she met with [[Svetlana Savitskaya]], the second woman to fly in space, in [[Budapest]]. The two formed an instant camaraderie, and were able to converse for six hours thanks to Savitskaya's command of English. Savitskaya gave Ride Russian dolls, books and a scarf, and Ride gave Savitskaya an STS-7 charm that had flown on the mission and a TFNG shirt. They signed autographs for each other on Russian [[first day cover]]s.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=179–183}}

===STS-41-G===
{{Main|STS-41-G}}
[[File:Ride on the Flight Deck - GPN-2000-001083.jpg|thumb|right|On the flight deck of the {{OV|Challenger}} during the [[STS-41-G]] mission|alt=refer to caption]]
While she was still engaged on the publicity tour, Abbey assigned Ride to the crew of [[STS-41-G]]. This was on Crippen's request; he had been assigned to another mission, [[STS-41-C]], that would fly beforehand as part of a test to see how quickly crews could be turned around, and wanted Ride as his flight engineer again so that she could sit in for him during crew training for STS-41-G in the meantime. During mission simulations, she sat in the commander's left hand seat. Ride became the first American woman to fly twice, and her TFNG crewmate [[Kathryn Sullivan]] became the first American woman to perform an [[extravehicular activity]] (EVA); Savitskaya had been the first woman to do both on [[Soyuz T-12]] in July 1984. It was the first time that two women were in space together.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=188–191}}<ref name="STS-41G" />

The mission lifted off from the KSC in ''Challenger'' on  October 5, 1984. The rookie astronauts on the flight were cautious about moving about too soon, lest they suffer from space adaptation syndrome, but Ride was now a veteran astronaut, one who knew that she would not be affected. Once in orbit she immediately and gracefully began moving about. The crew deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conducted scientific observations of the Earth with the OSTA-3 pallet (including the SIR-B radar, FILE, and MAPS experiments) and large format camera (LFC), conducted numerous in-cabin experiments, and activated eight [[Getaway Special]] canisters containing experiments devised by outside groups.<ref name="STS-41G" />

When the SIR-B antenna failed to unfold correctly, Ride used the robot arm to shake it loose, manipulating the robot arm much faster than she had been trained to. She also repaired a broken antenna on the middeck. During the second day of the mission, the SIR-B antenna had to be stowed so ''Challenger''{{'}}s orbit could be altered, but its latches failed to clamp and close the antenna, so Ride used the RMS to nudge the antenna panel closed. Sullivan performed an EVA with fellow TFNG mission specialist [[David Leestma]], in which they showed that a [[satellite]] could be refueled in orbit. On this mission ''Challenger'' completed 132 orbits of the Earth in 197.5 hours, landing back at the KSC on October 13, 1984.<ref name="STS-41G">{{cite web |publisher=[[NASA]] |title=STS-41G |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-41G.html |access-date=February 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=35 Years Ago: STS-41G - A Flight of Many Firsts  |date= October 2019 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/35-years-ago-sts-41g-a-flight-of-many-firsts |access-date=March 17, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=188–191}} During the mission, Ride carried a white silk scarf that had been worn by [[Amelia Earhart]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=198}} On her two flights  Ride had spent over 343 hours in space.<ref name="space-com-obit">{{cite web |last1=Moskowitz |first1=Clara |title=Sally Ride, 1st American Woman in Space, Dies at 61 |url=https://www.space.com/16712-sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dies.html |website=[[Space.com]] |location=New York City |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505130457/https://www.space.com/16712-sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dies.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=July 23, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Planned third mission===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?320145-1/sally-ride Presentation by Sherr on ''Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space'', June 25, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?321162-6/sally-ride Presentation by Sherr on ''Sally Ride'', August 30, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?324264-2/sally-ride Presentation by Sherr on ''Sally Ride'', February 14, 2015], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
Ride was soon back in the rotation, training for her third flight, STS-61-I. This mission was scheduled to be flown no later than July 15, 1986, and was to deploy the [[Intelsat VI]]-1 and [[INSAT]] 1-C communications satellites and carry the Materials Science Lab-4.<ref>{{cite press release |first=Steve |last=Nesbitt |id=86-027 |date=June 17, 1985 |title=NASA Names Astronaut Crew For Space Shuttle Mission 61-I |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83137main_1985.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011022315/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83137main_1985.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-11 |url-status=live |access-date=July 23, 2022 }}</ref> The crew was subsequently switched to [[Cancelled Space Shuttle missions#STS-61-M (Challenger)|STS-61-M]], a [[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System]] (TDRS) deployment mission scheduled to be flown in July 1986.<ref name="si-bio">{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Patti |title=Sally K. Ride Papers |url=https://sova.si.edu/record/NASM.2014.0025 |website=[[Smithsonian Institution Archives|Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives]] |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505130915/https://sova.si.edu/record/NASM.2014.0025 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=Washington, D.C. |year=2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="RogersVol2">{{cite report |title=Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' Accident |author1=Rogers, William P. |author2=Armstrong, Neil A. |author3=Acheson, David C. |author4=Covert, Eugene E. |author5=Feynman, Richard P. |author6=Hotz, Robert B. |author7=Kutyna, Donald J. |author8=Ride, Sally K. |author9=Rummel, Robert W. |author10=Sutter, Joseph F. |author11=Walker, Arthur B. C. Jr. |author12=Wheelon, Albert D. |author13=Yeager, Charles E. |author1-link=William P. Rogers |author2-link=Neil Armstrong |author3-link=David Campion Acheson |author4-link=Eugene E. Covert |author5-link=Richard Feynman |author7-link=Donald J. Kutyna |author8-link=Sally Ride |author10-link=Joe Sutter |author11-link=Arthur B. C. Walker Jr. |author13-link=Chuck Yeager |volume=2 |page=J-36 |year=1986 |url=https://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v2appj.htm |access-date=July 23, 2022 }}</ref> She also served on two more missions as CapCom. On January 7, 1986, Ride provided a glowing reference for her friend, and eventual biographer, [[Lynn Sherr]] for NASA's [[Journalist in Space Project]]. Sherr became one of the finalists.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=200–201}} During 1985, Ride began an affair with [[Tam O'Shaughnessy]]. The two knew each other from the junior tennis circuit, and from when Ride was at Stanford.  O'Shaughnessy was now living in Atlanta, and had recently broken up with her female partner. Ride visited when she went to Atlanta on speaking engagements.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=192–195}} Hawley was  aware that his marriage was in trouble, but not that O'Shaughnessy was more than a friend. Ride still performed her astronaut spouse duties for Hawley when he flew in space for the second time on [[STS-61-C]] in January 1986:<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=199}} astronauts and their spouses were quarantined for a few days before launch, and they stayed at the [[astronaut beach house]] at the KSC. Spouses were expected to attend events before and after launches, including the post-mission publicity tour.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seddon |first=Rhea |title=Go For Orbit: One of America's First Women Astronauts Finds Her Space |location=Murfreesboro, Tennessee |publisher=Your Space Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-9962178-1-1 |oclc=921147949 }}</ref>{{rp|pp=157–166}} This could be agonizing for a couple whose marriage was breaking up.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=199}}

===Rogers Commission===
STS-61-M was cancelled after the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster]] later that month.<ref name="si-bio" /> Ride was appointed to the [[Rogers Commission Report|Rogers Commission]], the [[Presidential Commission (United States)|presidential commission]] investigating the disaster, and headed its subcommittee on operations. She was the only Space Shuttle astronaut and the only current NASA employee on the commission. After her death in 2012, [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] [[Donald J. Kutyna]] revealed that she had discreetly provided him with key information that [[O-rings]] become stiff at low temperatures; this was eventually identified as the cause of the ''Challenger'' explosion. To protect her as source, this information was fed to physicist [[Richard Feynman]], who was credited for discovering and making public the O-ring problem. Ride was very disturbed by revelations of NASA dysfunctional management decision-making and risk-assessment processes such as those which did not detect the O-ring problem.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=204–213}}<ref name="popmech2016">{{cite web |last1=Dean |first1=Margaret Lazarus |title=The Oral History of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a18616/an-oral-history-of-the-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster/ |website=[[Popular Mechanics]] |access-date=February 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505124603/https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a18616/an-oral-history-of-the-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=January 28, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="RogersVol1">{{cite report |author1=Rogers, William P. |author2=Armstrong, Neil A. |author3=Acheson, David C. |author4=Covert, Eugene E. |author5=Feynman, Richard P. |author6=Hotz, Robert B. |author7=Kutyna, Donald J. |author8=Ride, Sally K. |author9=Rummel, Robert W. |author10=Sutter, Joseph F. |author11=Walker, Arthur B. C. Jr. |author12=Wheelon, Albert D. |author13=Yeager, Charles E. |author1-link=William P. Rogers |author2-link=Neil Armstrong |author3-link=David Campion Acheson |author4-link=Eugene E. Covert |author5-link=Richard Feynman |author7-link=Donald J. Kutyna |author8-link=Sally Ride |author10-link=Joe Sutter |author11-link=Arthur B. C. Walker Jr. |author13-link=Chuck Yeager |title=Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Volume 1 |date=June 6, 1986 |publisher=[[Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident]] |location=Washington, D.C. |page=5 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19860015255/downloads/19860015255.pdf |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505111553/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19860015255/downloads/19860015255.pdf |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Roger Boisjoly]], who was one of the engineers who warned of the technical problems that led to the ''Challenger'' disaster, leading to the entire workforce of O-ring supplier [[Thiokol|Morton-Thiokol]] shunning him, Ride was the only public figure to show support for him when he went public with his pre-disaster warnings. Ride hugged him publicly to show her support for his efforts.<ref name="times-20210204">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Douglas |title=Roger Boisjoly, 73, Dies; Warned of Shuttle Danger |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/roger-boisjoly-73-dies-warned-of-shuttle-danger.html |access-date=May 11, 2015 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505134314/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/roger-boisjoly-73-dies-warned-of-shuttle-danger.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Rogers Commission submitted its report on June 6, 1986.<ref name="RogersVol1" />

Following the ''Challenger'' investigation, Ride was assigned to NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she led NASA's first [[strategic planning]] effort. She authored a report titled "[[The Ride Report|NASA Leadership and America's Future in Space]]". NASA management was unhappy with its prioritization of Earth exploration over a mission to Mars. She founded NASA's Office of Exploration, which she headed for two months. On weekends she flew to Atlanta to be with O'Shaughnessy. In October 1986, she published a children's book, ''To Space and Back'', which she co-wrote with Sue Okie, her high school and Swarthmore friend.<ref name="ride1" /><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=221–228}}

== After NASA ==
[[File:Open for Questions with Astronaut Sally Ride.webm|thumb|right|Sally Ride takes questions at the [[White House Astronomy Night]] (2009)|alt=In front of the White House with Dwayne Brown from NASA public affairs (audio visual)]]
In May 1987, Ride announced that she was leaving NASA to take up a two-year fellowship at the Stanford University [[Center for International Security and Cooperation|Center for International Security and Arms Control]] (CISAC), commencing on August 15, 1987.<ref>{{cite news |title=Astronaut Sally Ride to Leave NASA |first=Michael |last=Specter |date=May 27, 1987 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/05/27/astronaut-sally-ride-to-leave-nasa/73777e16-f367-4b11-8620-d09a114ff541/ |access-date=March 7, 2022}}</ref> She divorced Hawley in June.<ref name="Time1987">{{cite magazine |last1=Garcia |first1=Guy D. |last2=Thigpen |first2=David E. |title=People: June 8, 1987 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,964610,00.html |access-date=July 27, 2012 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=June 8, 1987 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505174526/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,964610,00.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=New York City |url-status=live}}</ref> At Stanford, her colleagues included [[Condoleezza Rice]], a specialist on the Soviet Union. Ride researched means by which [[nuclear warhead]]s could be counted and verified from space, but the impending end of the [[Cold War]] made this much less pressing. As the end of her fellowship approached, Ride hoped to secure a permanent position at Stanford. [[Sidney Drell]], who had recruited her, attempted to get a department to appoint her as a professor, but none would. Drell resigned from CISAC in protest.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=231–234}}

On July 1, 1989, Ride became a professor of physics at the [[University of California, San Diego]] (UCSD), and director of the California Space Institute (Cal Space), part of the university's [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]]. She was paid a professor's salary of $64,000 ({{Inflation|US|64000|1989|fmt=eq|r=-3}}) plus a $6,000 [[stipend]] as director of Cal Space, which employed 28 full- and part-time staff and had a budget of $3.3&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|3.3|1989}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref>{{cite news |first= Patrick |last=McDonnell |title=Astronaut Ride to Pursue Dual Interests at UCSD |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=June 17, 1989 |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-17-me-1508-story.html |access-date=22 July 2022}}</ref> Her research primarily involved the study of [[nonlinear optics]] and [[Thomson scattering]].<ref>{{cite web |title=S. K. Ride's research while affiliated with University of California, San Diego and other places |url=https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/S-K-Ride-6355846 |access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref> She remained director of Cal Space until 1996. She retired from UCSD in 2007 and became a [[professor emeritus]].<ref>{{cite press release |date=July 24, 2012 |first=Susan |last=Brown |title=Sally Ride, First American Woman in Space and Former California Space Institute Director, Dies at 61 |publisher=[[University of California, San Diego]] |url=https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/sally_ride_physics_professor_and_former_director_of_california_space_instit |access-date=24 July 2022}}</ref>

From the mid-1990s until her death, Ride led two public-outreach programs for NASA—the [[ISS EarthKAM]] and [[MoonKAM|GRAIL MoonKAM]] projects, in cooperation with NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] and UCSD. The programs allowed middle school students to request images of the Earth and the Moon.<ref>{{cite web |title=About EarthKAM |url=https://earthkam.ucsd.edu/about |publisher=[[University of California, San Diego]] |access-date=July 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120729152535/https://earthkam.ucsd.edu/about |archive-date=July 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |year=2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About GRAIL MoonKAM |url=http://moonkam.ucsd.edu/about/moonkam |publisher=[[University of California, San Diego]] |access-date=July 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801031504/https://moonkam.ucsd.edu/about/moonkam |archive-date=August 1, 2012 |year=2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Ride bought a house in [[La Jolla, California]], and O'Shaughnessy moved in after taking up a teaching position at [[San Diego Mesa College]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=237}} She turned down offers from President [[Bill Clinton]] to become [[NASA Administrator]], not wanting to leave California, but agreed to serve on the [[President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology|President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology]] (PCAST). This involved flying to Washington, D.C., every few months for studies and presentations. Due to the experience at CISAC, Clinton appointed her to a PCAST panel chaired by [[John Holdren]] to assess the risk of [[fissile]] materials being acquired in the former Soviet Union by terrorists in the chaos following its breakup.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=249–250}}

{{Quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=|align=left|author=Sally Ride<ref name="64th birthday"/>|quote=Everywhere I go I meet girls and boys who want to be astronauts and explore space, or they love the ocean and want to be oceanographers, or they love animals and want to be zoologists, or they love designing things and want to be engineers. I want to see those same stars in their eyes in 10 years and know they are on their way.}}
From September 1999 to July 2000, Ride was the president of the space news website, [[Space.com]], a company that aggregated news about science and space on its website.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=257–260}} She then became the president and CEO of [[Sally Ride Science]], a company she co-founded with O'Shaughnessy, who served as the chief executive officer and chair of the board.<ref name="obit"/><ref name="SallyRideScienceTeam">{{cite web |title=Team |url=https://sallyridescience.ucsd.edu/about/team/ |website=[[Sally Ride Science]] |publisher=[[University of California, San Diego]] |access-date=December 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505180313/https://sallyridescience.ucsd.edu/about/team/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |year=2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Sally Ride Science created entertaining science programs and publications for upper elementary and middle school students, with a particular focus on girls.<ref name="post">{{cite news |last1=Majors |first1=Dan |title=Sally Ride touts science careers for women |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/business/auto/2007/09/26/Sally-Ride-touts-science-careers-for-women/stories/200709260196 |access-date=October 7, 2007 |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]  |date=September 26, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505132801/https://www.post-gazette.com/business/auto/2007/09/26/Sally-Ride-touts-science-careers-for-women/stories/200709260196 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="al-com-blast-off">{{cite web |last1=Busby |first1=Guy |title=Sally Ride program blasts kids into science |url=https://www.al.com/pr-community-news/2012/07/sally_ride_program_blasts_kids.html |website=AL.com – Alabama  |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505133602/https://www.al.com/pr-community-news/2012/07/sally_ride_program_blasts_kids.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=Mobile, Alabama |date=January 14, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> It moved to the University of California, San Diego, in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schaffhauser |first=Dian |date=October 28, 2015 |title=Sally Ride STEM Program Moves to UC San Diego |url=https://thejournal.com/articles/2015/10/28/sally-ride-stem-program-moves-to-uc-san-diego.aspx |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=THE Journal }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Tatro |first=Samantha |date=2015-10-28 |title=Sally Ride Science Finds New Home at UC San Diego |url=https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/sally-ride-science-finds-new-home-at-uc-san-diego/1986336/ |access-date=2025-01-14 |website=NBC 7 San Diego }}</ref> Ride and O'Shaughnessy co-wrote six books on space aimed at children, with the goal of encouraging children to study science.<ref name="pr">{{Cite press release|url=https://www.sallyridescience.com/node/206|title=Sally Ride Science Brings Cutting-Edge Science to the Classroom with New Content Rich Classroom Sets|access-date=October 7, 2007|publisher=Sally Ride Science|date=September 27, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010175206/http://sallyridescience.com/node/206|archive-date=October 10, 2007}}</ref><ref name="trib">{{cite news |last1=Heinrichs |first1=Allison M. |title=Sally Ride encourages girls to engineer careers |url=https://archive.triblive.com/news/sally-ride-encourages-girls-to-engineer-careers/ |access-date=October 7, 2007 |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]] |date=September 26, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416054812/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_529380.html |archive-date=April 16, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Susan |last=Okie |date=July 27, 2012 |title=My friend Sally Ride's final mission: Making science cool  |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/my-friend-sally-rides-final-mission-making-science-cool/2012/07/27/gJQAqXVJEX_story.html |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref>

In 2003, Ride served on the [[Columbia Accident Investigation Board|''Columbia'' Accident Investigation Board]], and was the only person to serve on both the panel that investigated the ''Challenger'' disaster and the one that investigated the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|''Columbia'' disaster]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=279–285}}<ref name="columbiareportvol1">{{cite book |author1=Gehman, Harold W. Jr. |author2=Barry, John L. |author3=Deal, Duane W. |author4=Hallock, James N. |author5=Hess, Kenneth W. |author6=Hubbard, G. Scott |author7=Logsdon, John M. |author8=Ohseroff, Douglas D. |author9=Ride, Sally K.|author10=Tetrault, Roger E. |author11=Turcotte, Stephen A. |author12=Wallace, Steven B. |author13=Widnall, Sheila E. |author1-link=Harold W. Gehman Jr. |author4-link=James N. Hallock |author6-link=G. Scott Hubbard |author7-link=John Logsdon |author8-link=Douglas Osheroff |author9-link=Sally Ride |author11-link=Stephen A. Turcotte |author13-link=Sheila Widnall |title=Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report |volume=I |date=August 2003 |publisher=[[Columbia Accident Investigation Board]] |location=[[Arlington County, Virginia]] |page=7 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20030066167/downloads/20030066167.pdf |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505113049/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20030066167/downloads/20030066167.pdf |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> She endorsed [[Barack Obama]] for president in 2008,<ref name="Space politics">{{cite web |last1=Foust |first1=Jeff |title=Sally Ride endorses Obama |url=http://www.spacepolitics.com/2008/10/29/sally-ride-endorses-obama/ |website=Space Politics |access-date=June 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505173301/http://www.spacepolitics.com/2008/10/29/sally-ride-endorses-obama/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=October 29, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="sentinel-ride-2008">{{cite news |last1=Ride |first1=Sally |title=Inspired kids will reach for stars under Obama |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2008-10-29-opride29-story.html |access-date=May 11, 2015 |newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]]  |date=October 29, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023023614/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2008-10-29-opride29-story.html |archive-date=October 23, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> and was contacted by [[Lori Garver]], the head of Barack Obama's transition team for NASA in 2008, but once again made it clear that she was not interested in the post of NASA administrator. She served on the board of the [[National Math and Science Initiative]] in 2007 and the Educate to Innovate initiative in 2009, and was a member of the [[Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee]], which conducted an independent review of American space policy requested by the [[Office of Science and Technology Policy]] (OSTP) on May 7, 2009.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=285–287}}<ref name="hearing111-51">{{cite web |author1=One Hundred Eleventh Congress |author1-link=111th United States Congress |title=Hearing 111–51: Options and Issues for Nasa's Human Space Flight Program: Report of the "Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans" Committee |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg51928/pdf/CHRG-111hhrg51928.pdf  |publisher=[[United States Government Publishing Office]] |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506062048/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg51928/pdf/CHRG-111hhrg51928.pdf |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=United States Capitol |date=September 15, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Death ==
When Ride delivered a speech at the [[National Science Teaching Association|National Science Teachers Association Conference]] in San Francisco on March 10, 2011, O'Shaughnessy noted that she looked ill, and had her book a doctor's appointment; a [[medical ultrasound]] revealed a tumor the size of a golf ball in her abdomen, which was found to be [[pancreatic cancer]]. She underwent [[chemotherapy]] and [[radiation therapy]]. Ride had ensured that O'Shaughnessy would inherit her estate when she drew up her will in 1992. They registered their [[Domestic partnership in California|domestic partnership]] on August 15, 2011. On October 27, surgeons removed part of Ride's pancreas, [[bile duct]], [[stomach]] and [[intestine]], and her [[gallbladder]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=301–308}} Ride died on July 23, 2012, at the age of 61, at her home in La Jolla.<ref name="NBC20120723">{{cite news |last1=Steussy |first1=Lauren |title=Former Astronaut Sally Ride Dies in La Jolla |url=https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/former-astronaut-sally-ride-dies/1929021/ |access-date=December 28, 2016 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505182519/https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/former-astronaut-sally-ride-dies/1929021/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=San Diego, California |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bbcobit">{{cite news |title=Sally Ride, the first US woman in space, dies aged 61 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-18963939 |access-date=July 24, 2012 |work=[[BBC News]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506062946/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-18963939 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cnn-obit">{{cite news |title=Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/23/us/sally-ride-dead/index.html |access-date=May 6, 2021 |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=December 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506063324/https://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/23/us/sally-ride-dead/index.html |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="cnet-obit">{{cite news |last1=Harwood |first1=William |title=Sally Ride, first American woman in space, dies at 61 |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dies-at-61/ |access-date=July 23, 2012 |publisher=[[CNET]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506063844/https://www.cnet.com/news/sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dies-at-61/ |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Following [[cremation]], her ashes were interred next to those of her father at [[Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica]].<ref name="santamonica">{{cite web |last1=Islas |first1=Jason |title=Barrier-Breaking Astronaut Interred at Santa Monica's Woodlawn Cemetery |url=https://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2012/August-2012/08_08_2012_Barrier_Breaking_Astronaut_Interred_at_Santa_Monica_Cemetery.html |website=Santa Monica Lookout |access-date=December 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203101036/http://www.surfsantamonica.com/ssm_site/the_lookout/news/News-2012/August-2012/08_08_2012_Barrier_Breaking_Astronaut_Interred_at_Santa_Monica_Cemetery.html |archive-date=February 3, 2013 |date=August 8, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Her papers are in the [[National Air and Space Museum]] Archives of the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref name="si-bio" /> Ride's obituary publicly revealed for the first time that O'Shaughnessy had been her partner for 27 years,<ref name="HuffPo">{{cite news |title=Sally Ride, First American Woman In Space, Revealed To Have Female Partner Of 27 Years |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sally-ride-first-american-woman-female-partner-_n_1696537 |access-date=July 27, 2012 |publisher=[[HuffPost]] |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505175215/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sally-ride-first-american-woman-female-partner-_n_1696537 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=New York City}}</ref><ref name="BookLinks">{{cite web |last1=Giorgis |first1=Cyndi |last2=Johnson |first2=Nancy J. |title=Talking with Sally Ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy |url=http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/booklinks/resources/ride |website=Book Links |publisher=[[American Library Association]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505175653/http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/booklinks/resources/ride |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=March 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> making her the first known LGBT astronaut.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hsu |first1=Cindy |title=Dr. Sally Ride honored with statue at Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/dr-sally-ride-statue/ |access-date=12 September 2022 |publisher=CBS New York |date=17 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gohd |first1=Chelsea |title=This Pride, Be Inspired by Sally Ride's Legacy |url=https://www.space.com/40916-sally-ride-pride-inspiration-legacy.html |website=Space.com |access-date=12 September 2022 |date=18 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Moskowitz |first1=Clara |title=The Real Sally Ride: Astronaut, Science Champion and Lesbian |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/recommended-the-real-sally-ride-astronaut-science-champion-and-lesbian/ |access-date=October 29, 2020 |magazine=[[Scientific American]] |publisher=[[Springer Nature]] |date=June 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505182010/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/recommended-the-real-sally-ride-astronaut-science-champion-and-lesbian/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The relationship was confirmed by Ride's sister Bear, who said Ride chose to keep her personal life, including her sickness and treatments, private.<ref name="BrowardTimes">{{cite news |last1=Abdill |first1=Rich |title=Sally Ride Revealed to Be Gay: Her Sister, on Ride's Life, Death, and Desires for Privacy |url=https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/sally-ride-revealed-to-be-gay-her-sister-on-rides-life-death-and-desires-for-privacy-updated-6459520 |access-date=July 27, 2012 |newspaper=[[New Times Broward-Palm Beach]]  |date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505180827/https://www.browardpalmbeach.com/news/sally-ride-revealed-to-be-gay-her-sister-on-rides-life-death-and-desires-for-privacy-updated-6459520 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
== Awards and honors ==
Ride received numerous awards throughout her lifetime and after. She received the [[National Space Society]]'s von Braun Award, the Lindbergh Eagle by the Charles A. Lindbergh Fund, and [[Theodore Roosevelt Award (NCAA)|the NCAA's Theodore Roosevelt Award]]. She was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]] and the [[Astronaut Hall of Fame]] and was awarded the [[NASA Space Flight Medal]] twice. Elementary schools in the United States were named after her, including Sally Ride Elementary School in [[The Woodlands, Texas]], and Sally Ride Elementary School in [[Germantown, Maryland]].<ref name="ride1" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Award, Lindbergh Eagle, Sally Ride  |publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/award-lindbergh-eagle-sally-ride/nasm_A20140259000 |access-date=22 July 2022}}</ref> In 1984, she received the Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by [[Jefferson Awards for Public Service|Jefferson Awards]].<ref name="JeffersonMedalSI">{{cite web |title=Medal, Jefferson Award, American Institute of Public Service |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/medal-jefferson-award-american-institute-of-public-service/nasm_A20140203000 |website=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506064811/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/medal-jefferson-award-american-institute-of-public-service/nasm_A20140203000 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=Washington, D.C. |url-status=live}}</ref> California governor [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] and first lady [[Maria Shriver]] inducted Ride into the [[California Hall of Fame]] at the [[The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts|California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts]] on December 6, 2006.<ref name="hall">{{cite web |title=Sally Ride |url=https://www.californiamuseum.org/inductee/sally-ride |website=[[California Hall of Fame]] |publisher=[[The California Museum]] |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506065200/https://www.californiamuseum.org/inductee/sally-ride |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The following year she was inducted into the [[National Aviation Hall of Fame]] in [[Dayton, Ohio]].<ref name="nahf">{{cite web |title=Sally Kristen Ride |url=https://nationalaviation.org/enshrinee/sally-kristen-ride/ |website=[[National Aviation Hall of Fame]] |access-date=July 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429170115/https://nationalaviation.org/enshrinee/sally-kristen-ride/ |archive-date=April 29, 2022 |location=Dayton, Ohio |year=2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient - Tam O'Shaugnessy on Behalf of Sally Ride.webm|thumb|left|O'Shaughnessy posthumously accepts the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] on Ride's behalf in 2013|alt=(audio visual)]]
Ride directed public outreach and educational programs for NASA's [[Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory]] (GRAIL) mission, which sent twin satellites to map the moon's gravity. On December 17, 2012, the two GRAIL probes, Ebb and Flow, were directed to complete their mission by crashing on an unnamed lunar mountain near the [[Goldschmidt (crater)|crater Goldschmidt]]. NASA announced that it was naming the landing site in her honor.<ref>{{cite press release |last1=Brown |first1=Dwayne |last2=Agle |first2=D.C. |last3=McDonnell |first3=Sarah |author1-link=NASA Headquarters |author2-link=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |author3-link=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |id=12–438 |title=NASA's Grail Lunar Impact Site Named for Astronaut Sally Ride |url=https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/dec/HQ_12-438_GRAIL_Impact_Site_Sally_Ride.html |website=News Releases |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=December 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506065732/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/dec/HQ_12-438_GRAIL_Impact_Site_Sally_Ride.html |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=December 17, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Wall |first1=Mike |title=Moon Probes' Crash Site Named After Sally Ride |url=https://www.space.com/18944-nasa-grail-moon-crash-sally-ride.html |website=[[Space.com]] |location=New York City |access-date=December 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506070148/https://www.space.com/18944-nasa-grail-moon-crash-sally-ride.html |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=December 17, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Also in December 2012, the [[Space Foundation]] bestowed upon Ride its highest honor, the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award.<ref name="SpaceFoundation">{{cite press release |url=https://www.spacefoundation.org/2012/12/10/neil-armstrong-and-sally-ride-are-2013-general-james-e-hill-lifetime-space-achievement-award-honorees/ |title=Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride Are 2013 General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award Honorees |publisher=[[Space Foundation]] |location=Colorado Springs, Colorado |date=December 10, 2012 |access-date=December 5, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506070440/https://www.spacefoundation.org/2012/12/10/neil-armstrong-and-sally-ride-are-2013-general-james-e-hill-lifetime-space-achievement-award-honorees/ |archive-date=May 6, 2021}}</ref>

In April 2013, the [[United States Navy]] announced that a research ship would be named in honor of Ride.<ref name="UCSD Naming">{{cite press release |url=https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/navy_names_new_scripps_research_vessel_to_honor_the_legacy_of_space_explore |title=Navy Names New Scripps Research Vessel to Honor Legacy of Space Explorer Sally Ride |first=Cindy |last=Clark |date=April 16, 2013 |access-date=May 11, 2015 |publisher=[[University of California, San Diego]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506070847/https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/navy_names_new_scripps_research_vessel_to_honor_the_legacy_of_space_explore |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The {{ship|RV|Sally Ride|AGOR-28}} was [[Ceremonial ship launching|christened]] by O'Shaughnessy on August 9, 2014, the first vessel in the research fleet to be named after a female scientist, and delivered to [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web  |title = R/V ''Sally Ride''  |publisher = [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]] |year = 2022 |url = https://scripps.ucsd.edu/ships/sally-ride  |access-date = March 12, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Navy, Scripps Christen R/V ''Sally Ride'' |publisher=[[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]] |date=August 14, 2014 |url=https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/navy-scripps-christen-rv-sally-ride |access-date=July 23, 2022 }}</ref>

A "National Tribute to Sally Ride" was held at the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] in Washington, D.C., on May 20, 2013, and President Barack Obama announced that Ride would receive the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the highest civilian award in the United States. The medal was presented to O'Shaughnessy in a ceremony at the [[White House]] on November 20, 2013.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fox |first1=Steve |title=President Obama Awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sally Ride |url=https://www.nasa.gov/content/president-obama-awards-presidential-medal-of-freedom-to-sally-ride/ |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=September 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506072215/https://www.nasa.gov/content/president-obama-awards-presidential-medal-of-freedom-to-sally-ride/ |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=November 20, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author1=Office of the Press Secretary |author1-link=White House Press Secretary |title=President Obama Announces Sally Ride as a Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/20/president-obama-announces-sally-ride-recipient-presidential-medal-freedo |website=[[The White House]] |publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506071828/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/20/president-obama-announces-sally-ride-recipient-presidential-medal-freedo |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=Washington, D.C. |date=May 20, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2013, ''[[Flying (magazine)|Flying]]'' magazine ranked Ride at number 50 on their list of the "51 Heroes of Aviation".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Goyer |first1=Isabel |title=51 Heroes & Heroines of Aviation |url=https://www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery/photos/51-heroes-aviation/?pnid=41804 |access-date=November 29, 2014 |magazine=[[Flying (magazine)|Flying]] |publisher=[[Bonnier Corporation]] |date=July 24, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506072621/https://www.flyingmag.com/photo-gallery/photos/51-heroes-aviation/?pnid=41804 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=Winter Park, Florida |url-status=live}}</ref> For their first match of March 2019, the women of the [[United States women's national soccer team]] wore jerseys with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; [[Tierna Davidson]] chose the name of Sally Ride.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ennis |first1=Dawn |title=Lesbian icons honored with jerseys worn by USWNT |url=https://www.outsports.com/2019/3/4/18248520/lesbian-icons-honored-with-jerseys-worn-uswnt |access-date=March 4, 2019 |newspaper=[[Outsports]]  |date=March 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506075104/https://www.outsports.com/2019/3/4/18248520/lesbian-icons-honored-with-jerseys-worn-uswnt |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Listen|type=speech|pos=right|filename=Sally Ride (As Told By NASA Chief Scientist Dr. Ellen Stofan).ogg|title=Sally Ride as described by Ellen Stofan|description=[[NASA Chief Scientist]] [[Ellen Stofan]] describes the impact of Sally Ride as an astronaut.}}
Ride was inducted into the [[Legacy Walk]], an outdoor public display in Chicago that celebrates LGBT history and people, in 2014.<ref name="tribune legacy walk">{{cite news |last1=Pratt |first1=Gregory |title=Legacy Walk honors LGBT 'guardian angels' |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-gay-plaque-wrigleyville-20141012-story.html |access-date=October 13, 2014 |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=October 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506073125/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-gay-plaque-wrigleyville-20141012-story.html |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="the advocate legacy">{{cite magazine |last1=Reynolds |first1=Daniel |title=PHOTOS: 7 LGBT Heroes Honored With Plaques in Chicago's Legacy Walk |url=https://www.advocate.com/pride/2014/10/11/photos-7-lgbt-heroes-honored-plaques-chicagos-legacy-walk |access-date=October 13, 2014 |magazine=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]] |date=October 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506073647/https://www.advocate.com/pride/2014/10/11/photos-7-lgbt-heroes-honored-plaques-chicagos-legacy-walk |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> She was honored with a [[Google Doodle]] on what would have been her 64th birthday in 2015.<ref name="64th birthday">{{cite web |title=Sally Ride's 64th Birthday |website=[[Google Doodle]]  |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/sally-rides-64th-birthday/ |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> It was reused on [[International Women's Day]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=International Women's Day 2017 |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/international-womens-day-2017/ |website=[[Google Doodle]] |access-date=March 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506073920/https://www.google.com/doodles/international-womens-day-2017 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=March 8, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Stanford University's Serra House located in Lucie Stern Hall was renamed the Sally Ride House in 2019.<ref name="mercurynews1">{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Jason |title=Stanford renames buildings for Sally Ride, Carolyn Attneave |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/01/stanford-renames-buildings-for-sally-ride-carolyn-attneave/ |access-date=March 2, 2019 |newspaper=[[The Mercury News]] |publisher=[[Digital First Media]] |date=March 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506074531/https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/03/01/stanford-renames-buildings-for-sally-ride-carolyn-attneave/ |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=San Jose, California |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[U.S. Postal Service]] issued a first-class postage stamp honoring her in 2018,<ref name="spo20180523">{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Marcia |title=Today's Tidbits: May 23, 2018 |url=https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/todays-tidbits-may-23-2018/ |website=SpacePolicyOnline.com |access-date=May 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506074208/https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/todays-tidbits-may-23-2018/ |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=May 23, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> and Ride appeared as one of the first two honorees of the [[American Women quarters]] series in March 2022, the first known LGBT person to appear on U.S. currency.<ref name="usmint">{{cite press release |title=United States Mint Announces First Two Honorees in American Women Quarters Program |url=https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-announces-first-two-honorees-in-american-women-quarters-program |publisher=[[United States Mint]] |access-date=April 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506080522/https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-announces-first-two-honorees-in-american-women-quarters-program |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=Washington, D.C. |date=April 12, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |title=Dr. Sally Ride Quarter Begins Shipping  |publisher=[[United States Mint]] |url=https://www.usmint.gov/news/press-releases/united-states-mint-begins-shipping-american-women-quarters-program-coins-honoring-dr-sally-ride |access-date=July 23, 2022}}</ref>

On 1 April 2022, a satellite named after Ride ([[ÑuSat|ÑuSat 27]] or "Sally", COSPAR 2022-033R) was launched into space as part of the [[Satellogic]] Aleph-1 constellation.<ref name="Kramer 2020">{{cite web | last=Kramer | first=Herbert J. | title=Satellogic-Nusat | website=eoPortal | date=2020-09-15 | url=https://www.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/satellogic#sensor-complement-imager | access-date=2022-11-03}}</ref>

The [[Cygnus (spacecraft)|Cygnus spacecraft]] used for the [[Cygnus NG-18|NG-18]] mission was named the S.S. ''Sally Ride'' in her honor. It launched successfully on November 7, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NASA Commercial Resupply Mission NG-18 |url=https://www.northropgrumman.com/space/nasa-commercial-resupply-mission-ng-18 |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Northrop Grumman |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2022 a statue of Ride was unveiled outside the [[Cradle of Aviation Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/dr-sally-ride-statue/|title=Dr. Sally Ride honored with statue at Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City - CBS New York|date=June 17, 2022|website=www.cbsnews.com}}</ref> In 2023 another statue of Ride was unveiled, outside the [[Ronald Reagan Presidential Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/sally-ride-statue-unveiled-in-california/|title=Sally Ride statue unveiled in California - CBS News|website=www.cbsnews.com}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
* Ride appeared as herself in the 1999 ''[[Touched by an Angel]]'' episode "Godspeed".<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=299}}
* Astronauts [[Chris Hadfield]] and [[Catherine Coleman]] performed a song called "Ride On".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jaworski |first1=Michelle |title=8 reasons Chris Hadfield is the coolest astronaut on the Web |url=https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/chris-hadfield-astronaut-iss-reddit-ama/ |website=[[The Daily Dot]] |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506082254/https://www.dailydot.com/upstream/chris-hadfield-astronaut-iss-reddit-ama/ |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=Austin, Texas |date=March 2, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA9dROqvC0k |title='Ride On' by Astronauts Chris Hadfield and Catherine Coleman |date=January 5, 2013 |publisher=Rare Earth |via=YouTube}}</ref> The song was later released as part of Hadfield's album ''Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can'' under the name "Ride That Lightning."<ref name="exclaim">{{cite web |last1=Hudson |first1=Alex |title=Chris Hadfield – "Ride That Lightning" (lyric video) |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/chris_hadfield-ride_that_lightning_lyric_video |website=[[Exclaim!]] |access-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506082555/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/chris_hadfield-ride_that_lightning_lyric_video |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |location=Toronto |date=September 11, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* In the 2013 TV movie ''[[The Challenger Disaster]]'' she was portrayed by [[Eve Best]].<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Wiegand |title='The Challenger Disaster' review: A true thriller |date=November 13, 2013 |website=sfgate.com |url=https://www.sfgate.com/tv/article/The-Challenger-Disaster-review-A-true-thriller-4981585.php |access-date=9 November 2025}}</ref>
* A 2017 "Women of NASA" [[Lego]] set featured mini-figurines of Ride, [[Margaret Hamilton (software engineer)|Margaret Hamilton]], [[Mae Jemison]], and [[Nancy Roman]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mosher |first1=Dave |title=Lego's 'Women of NASA' toy set is finally on sale – and it's already Amazon's best-selling toy |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/lego-female-scientists-engineers-nasa-kit-2017-11 |website=[[Business Insider]] |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506083555/https://www.businessinsider.com/lego-female-scientists-engineers-nasa-kit-2017-11 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=November 3, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2019, [[Mattel]] released a [[Barbie]] doll in Ride's likeness as part of their "Inspiring Women" series.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://wjla.com/news/entertainment/barbie-launches-new-inspiring-women-dolls-honoring-rosa-parks-sally-ride|title=Barbie launches new 'Inspiring Women' dolls honoring Rosa Parks, Sally Ride|last=Caviness|first=Sarah|date=August 27, 2019|publisher=[[WJLA 24/7 News]]|access-date=August 27, 2019}}</ref>
* On October 21, 2019, the play ''Dr. Ride's American Beach House'' by playwright Liza Birkenmeier premiered [[off-Broadway]] at [[Barrow Street Theatre|Ars Nova's Greenwich House Theater]] in New York City. The play is set the evening before Ride's 1983 space flight, and is about women's desires and American norms of sex and power, lensed with Ride's experience as an astronaut in relation to her sex and identity. The title of the play alludes to NASA's [[astronaut beach house]] where astronauts were quarantined before missions.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Liza Birkenmeier's Doctor Ride's American Beach House Begins Off-Broadway |first=Olivia |last=Clement |magazine=[[Playbill]] |issn=0551-0678
|date=October 21, 2019 |url=https://playbill.com/article/liza-birkenmeiers-doctor-rides-american-beach-house-begins-off-broadway |access-date=May 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Final Frontier of Liza Birkenmeier |first=Trish |last=Harnetiaux |magazine=[[The Brooklyn Rail]] |issn=2157-2151 |date=November 2019 |url=https://brooklynrail.org/2019/11/theater/The-Final-Frontier-of-Liza-Birkenmeier |access-date=May 11, 2023}}</ref>
* In the film ''[[Valley Girl (2020 film)|Valley Girl]]'' (2020), Ride is referred to not only as the first woman astronaut, but also as a [[valley girl]], since she was from Encino.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Rooney |first1=Dave |title='Valley Girl': Film Review |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/valley-girl-1293430/ |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |issn=0018-3660 |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506084138/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/valley-girl-1293430/ |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=May 8, 2020 |quote=...that incorporates a nod to Encino's own Sally Ride... |url-status=live}}</ref>
* In 2021, Ride was featured in the second season of the Apple TV+ streaming series ''[[For All Mankind (TV series)|For All Mankind]]'', where she was played by Ellen Wroe.<ref name="forallmankind">{{cite web |last1=Howell |first1=Elizabeth |title='For All Mankind' sneak peek: Potential space shuttle battle looms in season 2 finale |url=https://www.space.com/for-all-mankind-season-2-finale-episode-preview |website=[[Space.com]] |location=New York City |access-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506084520/https://www.space.com/for-all-mankind-season-2-finale-episode-preview |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |date=April 23, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* On January 28, 2025, [[National Geographic]] premiered a documentary called ''[[Sally (2025 film)|Sally]]'', telling the story of Ride's professional and personal life, primarily through her hidden relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Lisa |date=2025-02-03 |title='Sally' Review: Astronaut Sally Ride's Life Partner Shares the Personal Saga of the Public Icon |url=https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/sally-review-sally-ride-1236294916/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> Director Cristina Costantini later said, following president [[Donald Trump]]'s cancelling all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs intended to help overcome prejudice against people who were LGBTQ, female, and also of darker skin color, that "We made this movie not thinking it was particularly controversial; we had no idea it would be this relevant." Constantini also said, referring to Ride's marriage, "People didn't like women in space, and they especially didn't like single women in space".<ref>{{cite news| last=Simonpillai | first=Radheyan | title='People didn't like women in space: how Sally Ride made history and paid the price |newspaper=The Guardian | date=15 June 2025 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jun/15/sally-ride-documentary}}</ref>

== Selected works ==
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally  |last2= Okie |first2=Susan |title = To Space and Back |publisher = HarperTrophy |location = New York |year=1989 |isbn = 0-688-09112-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally  |last2 = O'Shaughnessy |first2= Tam E. |title = Voyager: An Adventure to the Edge of the Solar System |publisher=Sally Ride Science |year=1992  |isbn=0-517-58157-4 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally  |last2 = O'Shaughnessy |first2= Tam E. |title = The Mystery of Mars |publisher=Crown |location = New York |year=1999  |isbn=0-517-70971-6 |url = https://archive.org/details/mysteryofmars00ride |url-access=registration |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally  |last2 = O'Shaughnessy |first2= Tam E. |title=Exploring our Solar System |publisher=Crown Publishers |location=New York |year=2003 |isbn=0-375-81204-0 |url = https://archive.org/details/exploringoursola00ride |url-access=registration |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally |last2 = O'Shaughnessy |first2= Tam E. |title =The Third Planet: Exploring the Earth from Space |publisher = Sally Ride Science |year=2004 |isbn=0-9753920-0-X |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |author = Sally Ride Science |title = What Do You Want to Be? Explore Space Sciences |publisher=Sally Ride Science |year=2004 |isbn=0-9753920-1-8 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally  |last2=Goldsmith |first2=Mike |title = Space (Kingfisher Voyages) |publisher=Kingfisher |location=London |year=2005  |isbn=0-7534-5910-8 |url = https://archive.org/details/kingfishervoyage00gold |url-access=registration |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally  |last2 = O'Shaughnessy |first2= Tam E. |title = Mission planet Earth: our world and its climate—and how humans are changing them |url = https://archive.org/details/missionplanetear0000ride |url-access=registration |publisher=Flash Point/Roaring Brook Press |location=New York |year=2009 |page=[https://archive.org/details/missionplanetear0000ride/page/80 80] |isbn=978-1-59643-310-6 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |last1 = Ride |first1= Sally  |last2 = O'Shaughnessy |first2= Tam E. |title = Mission—save the planet: things you can do to help fight global warming |publisher=Roaring Brook Press |location=New York |year=2009  |isbn=978-1-59643-379-3 |url = https://archive.org/details/missionsaveplane00ride |url-access=registration |ref=none}}

== See also ==
{{portal|Biography|California|LGBTQ|Spaceflight}}
* [[Women in space]]
** [[List of female astronauts]]
* [[List of female explorers and travelers]]
* [[Mercury 13]]
* [[Women in science]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite news |last=Benson |first=Robert Alan |title = Ride urges emphasis on math, science studies |url = https://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2006-03-19-sally-ride_x.htm |work=[[USA Today]] |date=March 19, 2006 |ref=none}}
* {{cite news |last=Williamson |first=Marcus |title = Sally Ride: The first American woman in space |url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/sally-ride-the-first-american-woman-in-space-7973259.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=July 25, 2012 |ref=none}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|s=no|v=no|b=no|wikt=no}}
* {{NYTtopic|people/r/sally_k_ride}}
* [https://sallyridescience.ucsd.edu/ Sally Ride Science website]

{{Clear}}
{{NASA Astronaut Group 8}}
{{U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame}}
{{NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award}}
{{Women's Museum of California}}
{{Texas Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{National Women's Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Burials at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica]]
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[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
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[[Category:American female tennis players]]
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