Sally Ride
Sally Ride
Sally Kristen Ridewas an American physicist and astronaut. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. She remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32. After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. She worked for two years at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAstronaut
Date of Birth26 May 1951
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
Women make up only 25 percent of the science, engineering and technology workforce... We are delighted to be working with NASA Ames to give Silicon Valley area girls a chance to explore and develop their potential in science at an age when many begin to drift away from their natural interest.
I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way in order to achieve her goals.
The best advice I can give anybody is to try to understand who you are and what you want to do, and don't be afraid to go down that road and do whatever it takes and work as hard as you have to work to achieve that.
I suggest taking the high road and have a little sence of humour and let things roll off your back. I think that's very important.
We need to make science cool again.
I have a lot of common sense. I know what needs to be done and how to approach it. I have an ability to work with people on large enterprises.
One thing I probably share with everyone else in the astronaut office is composure.
Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.
I've discovered that half the people would love to go into space and there's no need to explain it to them. The other half can't understand and I couldn't explain it to them. If someone doesn't know why, I can't explain it.
So most astronauts getting ready to lift off are excited and very anxious and worried about that explosion - because if something goes wrong in the first seconds of launch, there's not very much you can do.
On both of my flights, everything went very well.
If it wasn't for the women's movement, I wouldn't be where I am today.
You know, I go around the country a lot.
I love the John Glenn model... I may call NASA in 25 years or so, and see if they'd like to send me to Mars.