Sally Ride

From Stanford to NASA

At Stanford University, Ride studied both physics and English and completed a doctorate in physics in 1978. NASA selected her as an astronaut candidate that January. The 1978 astronaut class included women, opening a route into the American flight corps that had previously been closed to them. [1, 3]

Her preparation went beyond learning to live in weightlessness. Ride worked on the shuttle's robotic arm and served as a capsule communicator for STS-2 and STS-3, relaying information between mission control and the crew. As a mission specialist, she trained to operate payloads and carry out experiments. [3]

STS-7: satellites and a robotic arm

Challenger carried five astronauts on STS-7, commanded by Robert Crippen, a veteran of STS-1. The mission deployed the Anik C-2 and Palapa B-1 communications satellites and used the Shuttle Pallet Satellite, SPAS-01, for experiments outside the cargo bay. [4]

Ride operated the robotic arm during the SPAS-01 work. Releasing and retrieving an independently flying payload required close coordination between the arm operator and the astronauts controlling the orbiter. Photographs taken from SPAS-01 also showed the shuttle in space from an external viewpoint. The crew landed at Edwards Air Force Base on 24 June 1983. [4]

A second flight: STS-41G

Ride returned to space on Challenger on 5 October 1984. STS-41G carried seven people, including Kathryn Sullivan, and deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite. Its science payloads studied Earth and its atmosphere, illustrating the shuttle's role as an orbital laboratory. [5]

During that flight Sullivan performed a spacewalk with David Leestma. Ride worked inside the orbiter; the two astronauts had different duties. The mission landed on 13 October. It was Ride's second and final spaceflight. [3, 5]

Safety after Challenger and Columbia

Ride was preparing for another flight when Challenger was lost in January 1986. She served on the Rogers Commission investigating the accident. After the loss of Columbia in 2003, she also served on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Her later contribution to the shuttle therefore included scrutinizing the system that had carried her into orbit. [3, 6]

Science within reach

After leaving NASA, Ride pursued an academic career and taught physics at the University of California, San Diego. In 2001 she helped found Sally Ride Science, which encouraged children from different backgrounds to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She also coauthored science books for young readers with her partner Tam O'Shaughnessy. [6, 7]

Ride died in 2012. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 2013. Her legacy combines two working space missions with sustained efforts to make scientific careers more accessible. [6]