In June of 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to fly to space.
Today, we celebrate not only that historic flight but also Sally Ride’s enduring legacy, which is especially meaningful during Pride Month. While Ride’s sexual orientation and relationship with surviving partner Tam O’Shaughnessy weren’t revealed until after Ride’s death in 2012, her life and achievements remain inspirational to people around the world.
What is it?
On June 18, 1983, NASA’s STS-7 mission sent five astronauts on a mission to Earth orbit aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Sally Ride flew as a mission specialist alongside mission commander Robert Crippen, mission pilot Frederick Hauck and fellow mission specialists John Fabian and Norman Thagard. After just over six days and two hours in space, the crew landed back on Earth at Edwards Air Force Base in California before eventually returning to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
STS-7 carried and deployed communications satellites. The crew also supported a variety of scientific experiments, including a study on the social behavior of ants without gravity, how metal alloys form in microgravity, and even a study on space sickness.
Why is it incredible?
When STS-7 launched, Ride did what no American woman had been allowed to do before: fly to space. After decades of human spaceflight missions and advancements that left out women as astronauts, this mission was the first of many to start evening the playing field. But this was only one of many historic firsts for Ride.
Following her death in 2012, for example, the astronaut came out in her own obituary.
“In addition to Tam O’Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years, Sally is survived by her mother, Joyce; her sister, Bear; her niece, Caitlin, and nephew, Whitney; her staff of 40 at Sally Ride Science; and many friends and colleagues around the country,” Ride’s obituary read.
“I hope it makes it easier for kids growing up gay that they know that another one of their heroes was like them,” Bear Ride, who also identifies as gay, said in a statement following this news.
Today, over 40 years since Ride flew to space and 14 years since her passing, there are still no astronauts who have intentionally come out as being a part of the LGBTQ+ community during their lifetime. This fact highlights the tremendous obstacles that still remain for so many, and it reinforces that remembering Ride’s legacy is as important today as it ever has been.