{"id":44177,"date":"2025-06-18T19:36:22","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/sally-celebrates-complicated-legacy-of-first-us-woman-in-space\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T19:36:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:36:22","slug":"sally-celebrates-complicated-legacy-of-first-us-woman-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/sally-celebrates-complicated-legacy-of-first-us-woman-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"Sally celebrates complicated legacy of first US woman in space"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"ars-video ars-video--horizontal\"><iframe class=\"absolute left-0 top-0 block h-full w-full object-cover\" allow=\"fullscreen\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C67rl6MNGe0?start=0&amp;wmode=transparent\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>      \u201cSally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure, she carried a secret.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>On June 18, 1983, NASA astronaut Sally Ride made history as the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle <em>Challenger<\/em>. National Geographic is marking the occasion with a new documentary on the astronaut\u2019s life: <em>Sally<\/em>. In addition to revisiting her storied career, the film provides an unprecedented look at the famously private Ride\u2019s personal life\u2014notably her nearly 30-year relationship with another woman.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\">Director Cristina Costantini\u2019s prior work includes the 2018 Emmy-nominated National Geographic documentary <em>Science Fair<\/em>, chronicling nine teenagers\u2019 paths to competing in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. So perhaps it\u2019s not surprising that Costantini is a longtime fan of Ride since childhood. \u201cIt was just, if a girl can go to space and do all these things that women aren\u2019t supposed to do, maybe I can do big things, too,\u201d she told Ars. \u201cI think a lot of women have the exact same reaction. If she can do it, we can do it. As I got older and I learned more about Sally, I realized, wow, she really had a very fine line to walk and she did it so masterfully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ride died of pancreatic cancer in 2012, which is when Costantini and much of the rest of the world discovered that the astronaut\u2019s business partner, Tam O\u2019Shaughnessy, was also Ride\u2019s romantic partner and had been for 27 years. \u201cI thought, oh my God, if NASA was barely ready for women, what was this like?\u201d said Costantini. \u201cWhat was beneath the story that we had been fed our entire lives of who Sally really was? I wanted to make a film that celebrated the Sally we all knew and also celebrated the Sally we didn\u2019t know and complicate her legacy and make her a real person.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was O\u2019Shaughnessy who approved that 2012 obit, recalling that the week before Ride died, she mentioned her plans to hold a celebration of Ride\u2019s life for friends, families, and colleagues. \u201cShe really liked the idea and she perked up and got excited and we started planning,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy told Ars. \u201cThen suddenly I wondered: who am I going to be to the people who don\u2019t know that we are a couple? And who am I going to be in the world after you\u2019re gone? Sally thought about it for a minute and then she said, \u2018You decide. Whatever you decide will be the right thing to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p>O\u2019Shaughnessy naturally had concerns about how NASA would react to the news, since Ride had carefully hidden that side of her life for decades. \u201cI was worried about not having been completely honest with some of our friends and certainly our colleagues,\u201d she said. \u201cBut then I just realized Sally was a really honest person, and I am too. So I just decided, that\u2019s it. I\u2019m going to be myself and open about our relationship the rest of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>The public face<\/h2>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"949\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally5.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Sally Ride and fellow astronauts, including Kathy Sullivan and Bob Crippen, during training at NASA Johnson Space Center in 1984.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100973\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally5.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally5-640x506.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally5-1024x810.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally5-768x607.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally5-980x775.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Sally Ride and fellow astronauts, including Kathy Sullivan and Bob Crippen, during training at NASA Johnson Space Center in 1984. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Sally Ride and fellow astronauts, including Kathy Sullivan and Bob Crippen, during training at NASA Johnson Space Center in 1984. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"667\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally4-1024x667.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Sally Ride next to a T-38 Jet during training at NASA Johnson Space Center.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100978\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally4-1024x667.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally4-640x417.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally4-768x500.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally4-980x639.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally4.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Sally Ride next to a T-38 Jet during training at NASA Johnson Space Center. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Sally Ride next to a T-38 Jet during training at NASA Johnson Space Center. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Sally Ride posing with her space helmet during her time in training as a mission specialist for NASA's STS-7 spaceflight.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100974\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8-384x216.jpg 384w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8-1152x648.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally8.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Sally Ride posing with her space helmet during her time in training as a mission specialist for NASA\u2019s STS-7 spaceflight. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Sally Ride posing with her space helmet during her time in training as a mission specialist for NASA\u2019s STS-7 spaceflight. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-left\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Sally Ride next to a T-38 Jet during training at NASA Johnson Space Center. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Sally Ride posing with her space helmet during her time in training as a mission specialist for NASA\u2019s STS-7 spaceflight. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10-640x360.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, smiles aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger during the STS-7 mission in June 1983.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100980\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10-384x216.jpg 384w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10-1152x648.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally10.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, smiles aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger during the STS-7 mission in June 1983.<\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9-640x360.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Sally Ride, mission specialist on STS-7, monitors control panels from the pilot's chair on the Flight Deck. Floating in front of her is a flight procedures notebook.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100979\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9-384x216.jpg 384w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9-1152x648.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9-980x551.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally9.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Sally Ride, mission specialist on STS-7, monitors control panels from the pilot\u2019s chair on the Flight Deck. Floating in front of her is a flight procedures notebook. <\/p>\n<p>                      NASA<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When the producers contacted her about the documentary for National Geographic, and she met Costantini, O\u2019Shaughnessy agreed to be interviewed for the film. \u201cIt just all came together. It was the right team at the time,\u201d O\u2019Shaughnessy said. \u201cAnd I felt so comfortable with Cristina when she was interviewing me that I just felt relaxed and just open.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Sally<\/em> hits all the well-documented major moments in Ride\u2019s impressive career: her application and acceptance to NASA\u2019s Space Shuttle program, the rigorous training, her promotion to full-fledged astronaut, serving as a ground-based CapCom for two space shuttle flights, and her historic 1983 flight. We also get a sense of what the NASA culture was like for women at that time, with reporters at press conferences asking if she cried whenever things got stressful, the special space makeup kit she was given for her flight, and the infamous oversupply of 100 tampons for a six-day mission.<\/p>\n<p>We also learn of Ride\u2019s disillusionment with NASA after the 1986 <em>Challenger<\/em> disaster that killed several of her good friends and colleagues. She was the only NASA employee to serve on the subsequent Rogers Commission investigation. While physicist Richard Feynman famously demonstrated how the O-rings froze on the cold morning of the fatal launch, after she died, it was revealed that Ride had uncovered this information and passed it along to Feynman via a go-between in order to protect her source. Ride left NASA in 1987 to take up a faculty position, first at Stanford University and then at the University of California, San Diego.<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the public face of Sally Ride. We also hear about her childhood in Encino, California, her early promise as a tennis player\u2014she met O\u2019Shaughnessy on the tennis circuit as teens, and Ride\u2019s first girlfriend was also a fellow tennis player\u2014and her education, culminating in 1978 with a PhD in astrophysics. She married fellow astronaut Steve Hawley in 1982, but that relationship was breaking down when Ride began her affair with O\u2019Shaughnessy in 1985. She and Hawley divorced in 1987; he knew nothing of the affair. Ride eventually co-founded an education and outreach program, Sally Ride Science, with O\u2019Shaughnessy, and the couple co-wrote several children\u2019s books about space science<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O\u2019Shaughnessy\u2019s commentary is especially powerful because of her remarkable willingness to be open, honest, and emotionally vulnerable. \u201cTam\u2019s an incredible storyteller,\u201d said Costantini. \u201cShe\u2019s very fun and very cool to hang out with, but she\u2019s a godsend for a documentary filmmaker because she really wanted to be vulnerable and tell a story about a real person. That made all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, O\u2019Shaughnessy is very frank about how hurt she felt when Ride insisted on keeping their relationship a secret, even after her divorce. The pair nearly broke up over it before working through the difficulty. Part of that tension stemmed from the anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments of the era, a period when the outing of tennis megastar Billie Jean King (who also appears in <em>Sally<\/em>) led to King losing an estimated $2 million in endorsements.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ride and O\u2019Shaughnessy also moved in different circles during those crucial years. While she was always guarded, O\u2019Shaughnessy spent time on the women\u2019s professional tennis tour, an environment that was far more tolerant and welcoming of same-sex attractions among its players. Ride, by contrast, was a NASA astronaut and bona fide celebrity after her historic flight\u2014a culture that was barely ready to welcome women astronauts, never mind one with a female partner. Add in Ride\u2019s natural tendency to extreme privacy and the tension was inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI understood that this was her basic nature, and she had a lot to lose, but I didn\u2019t like it,\u201d said O\u2019Shaughnessy, although love ultimately triumphed. \u201cI wish we could have been more open. I loved her. It would have been fun to share her more, even with some of her friends that she wouldn\u2019t let in. She only let in certain people. And once we started the science education company, there was no way. We knew we were dependent on corporate sponsorships. We just decided, \u2018We\u2019ve got to hide it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>A private life<\/h2>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally3.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Tam O'Shaughnessy and Sally Ride in Sydney, Australia in 2004.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100976\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally3.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally3-640x512.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally3-1024x819.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally3-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally3-980x784.jpg 980w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Tam O\u2019Shaughnessy and Sally Ride in Sydney, Australia in 2004. <\/p>\n<p>                      courtesy of Tam O\u2019Shaughness<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Tam O\u2019Shaughnessy and Sally Ride in Sydney, Australia in 2004. <\/p>\n<p>                      courtesy of Tam O\u2019Shaughness<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1298\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally7-1024x1298.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Sally Ride as a teenager playing tennis in the 1960s.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100972\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally7-1024x1298.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally7-640x811.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally7-768x973.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally7-980x1242.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally7.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Sally Ride as a teenager playing tennis in the 1960s. <\/p>\n<p>                      Courtesy of Tam O\u2019Shaughnessy<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Sally Ride as a teenager playing tennis in the 1960s. <\/p>\n<p>                      Courtesy of Tam O\u2019Shaughnessy<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1466\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally6-1024x1466.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Astronaut Sally Ride poses in her classic leather bomber jacket in this undated photo.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100970\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally6-1024x1466.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally6-640x916.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally6-768x1100.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally6-1073x1536.jpg 1073w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally6-980x1403.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally6.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Astronaut Sally Ride poses in her classic leather bomber jacket in this undated photo. <\/p>\n<p>                      courtesy of Bear Ride<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Astronaut Sally Ride poses in her classic leather bomber jacket in this undated photo. <\/p>\n<p>                      courtesy of Bear Ride<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-left\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Sally Ride as a teenager playing tennis in the 1960s. <\/p>\n<p>                      Courtesy of Tam O\u2019Shaughnessy<\/p>\n<p>    <svg class=\"ars-gallery-caption-arrow ars-gallery-caption-arrow-right\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 40 40\"><defs><clipPath id=\"arrow-blocks-right_svg__a\"><path fill=\"none\" d=\"M0 0h40v40H0z\"><\/path><\/clipPath><\/defs><g fill=\"currentColor\" clip-path=\"url(#arrow-blocks-right_svg__a)\"><path d=\"M32 16h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm-8 8h8v8h-8zm8-24h8v8h-8zm-8-8h8v8h-8zM0 16h16v8H0z\"><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/p>\n<p>              Astronaut Sally Ride poses in her classic leather bomber jacket in this undated photo. <\/p>\n<p>                      courtesy of Bear Ride<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally11-640x428.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Bear Ride, Sally Ride's sister, sits for an interview.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100977\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally11-640x428.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally11-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally11-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally11-980x656.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally11.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Bear Ride, Sally Ride\u2019s sister, sits for an interview. <\/p>\n<p>                      National Geographic<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally1-640x427.jpg\" class=\"ars-gallery-image\" alt=\"Director Cristina Costantini behind-the-scenes of the studio recreation of the STS-7 launch.\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-labelledby=\"caption-2100975\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally1-640x427.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally1-980x653.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\"><\/p>\n<p>      Director Cristina Costantini behind-the-scenes of the studio recreation of the STS-7 launch. <\/p>\n<p>                      National Geographic\/Parker Hill<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Juggling between these two very different aspects of Ride\u2019s life posed a challenge for <em>Sally<\/em>\u2018s director. \u201cI really think there are two different films here,\u201d said Costantini. \u201cOne is that Sally that we all knew, who was almost too well documented. We had to bring in 5,000 reels from the NASA archives and sort through them to find some gems. It was a mountain of footage and a lot of it was labeled as just \u2018shuttle era\u2019 or something very nonspecific. We also had to sound sync it all, since it didn\u2019t have sound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the private side, she decided to rely on several re-enactments. \u201cThere were not very many pictures and not any footage of the two of them together,\u201d said Costantini. \u201cSo we decided to create our own visual language around that love story that would help illustrate Tam\u2019s storytelling in these private moments. It\u2019s a careful weave of stepping away from the very public and going into the very private. I love that the story has these big, epic space moments and also these very quiet, intimate moments, the microscopic and the celestial.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe really made this film for anyone who\u2019s ever had to hide part of themselves to get where they want to be, which is, in 2025, a more common experience than ever,\u201d said Costantini. \u201cI\u2019m very inspired personally by Tam and Sally\u2019s bravery: Sally\u2019s bravery to launch on a rocket up into space, Tam\u2019s bravery to live as a queer woman during a time when that was not celebrated by mainstream culture. I often think there\u2019s a real lack of brave people nowadays. I open the newspaper and think, \u2018Where did all the brave people go?\u2019 Looking into Sally\u2019s past, you can see echoes of some of the same struggles that we\u2019re facing today.<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI hope that the film will give people some optimism that things can get better, but also to remind them that things can get worse and that these rights that we do have now are not guaranteed,\u201d Costantini continued. \u201cWe\u2019re standing on the shoulders of women like Sally and Tam, and we\u2019ve got to fight to defend the progress that these people have made for us. So I think this film is more relevant than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the film\u2019s most powerful moments is a re-enactment of Ride and O\u2019Shaughnessy slow-dancing to Neil Young\u2019s \u201cHarvest Moon\u201d just before Ride\u2019s death, with O\u2019Shaughnessy supporting her weakened partner through the steps. It\u2019s the Sally Ride only O\u2019Shaughnessy had the privilege to know. \u201cSally wasn\u2019t perfect, and she was certainly not open about being a queer woman,\u201d said O\u2019Shaughnessy. \u201cBut she had such integrity, and she lived her life exactly the way she wanted to live it. Sally would never let anyone tell her what she should do with her life. I think that\u2019s a powerful message to be true to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As O\u2019Shaughnessy&nbsp;says at the end of <em>Sally<\/em>, \u201cWe were brave enough to love each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Sally<\/em> is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<figure class=\"ars-wp-img-shortcode id-2101384 align-none\">\n<p>              <img width=\"640\" height=\"917\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally-poster-640x917.jpg\" class=\"none medium\" alt=\"poster art showing a woman astronaut donning a space helmet\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally-poster-640x917.jpg 640w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally-poster-1024x1468.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally-poster-768x1101.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally-poster-1072x1536.jpg 1072w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally-poster-980x1405.jpg 980w, https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sally-poster.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\"><\/p>\n<p>                  Credit:<br \/>\n                                      National Geographic <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cSally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure, she carried a secret.\u201d On June 18, 1983, NASA astronaut Sally Ride made history as the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. National Geographic is marking the occasion with a new documentary on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44178,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1668,9571,9572,5129,1231,9573],"class_list":["post-44177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-astronauts","tag-disney-plus","tag-nasa-history","tag-national-geographic-channel","tag-sally-ride","tag-streaming-television"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44177"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}