On both of my flights, everything went very well.
About Sally Ride
Sally Ride was the first American woman and the third woman overall to fly in space. She was a physicist, astronaut, and pioneer who paved the way for women in STEM fields. Ride’s groundbreaking achievements and her private life as the first known LGBTQ astronaut make her a fascinating figure in history.
More quotes from Sally Ride
The view of Earth is spectacular.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I liked math – that was my favorite subject – and I was very interested in astronomy and in physical science.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Well, we spend an awful lot of our time working and doing experiments. It’s very busy up on the shuttle.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I slept just floating in the middle of the flight deck, the upper deck of the space shuttle.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
The most anxious time was during launch, just because that is so dramatic.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
So I decided on science when I was in college.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
So most astronauts are astronauts for a couple of years before they are assigned to a flight.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I don’t have any nicknames.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
It takes a couple of years just to get the background and knowledge that you need before you can go into detailed training for your mission.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I was always very interested in science, and I knew that for me, science was a better long-term career than tennis.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
So I saw many planets, and they looked just a little bit brighter than they do from Earth.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
When you’re getting ready to launch into space, you’re sitting on a big explosion waiting to happen.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
But even in elementary school and junior high, I was very interested in space and in the space program.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Different astronauts sleep in different ways.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
It takes a few years to prepare for a space mission.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
On both of my flights, everything went very well.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
After the Challenger accident, NASA put in a lot of time to improve the safety of the space shuttle to fix the things that had gone wrong.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I do a lot of running and hiking, and I also collect stamps – space stamps and Olympics stamps.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
The pressure suit helps if something goes wrong during launch or re-entry – astronauts have a way to parachute off the shuttle. The suits protect you from loss of pressure in case of emergency.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
For quite some time, women at NASA only had scientific backgrounds.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I didn’t really decide that I wanted to be an astronaut for sure until the end of college.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
It’s easy to sleep floating around – it’s very comfortable. But you have to be careful that you don’t float into somebody or something!
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I had both male and female heroes.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Then during the mission itself, I used the space shuttle’s robot arm to release a satellite into orbit.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
We can see cities during the day and at night, and we can watch rivers dump sediment into the ocean, and see hurricanes form.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
The space shuttle is a better and safer rocket than it was before the Challenger accident.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Once you are assigned to a flight, the whole crew is assigned at the same time, and then that crew trains together for a whole year to prepare for that flight.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
I felt very honored, and I knew that people would be watching very closely, and I felt it was very, very important that I do a good job.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Because I was a tennis player, Billie Jean King was a hero of mine.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Even though NASA tries to simulate launch, and we practice in simulators, it’s not the same – it’s not even close to the same.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
The astronauts who came in with me in my astronaut class – my class had 29 men and 6 women – those men were all very used to working with women.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
My background is in physics, so I was the mission specialist, who is sort of like the flight engineer on an airplane.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
But when I wasn’t working, I was usually at a window looking down at Earth.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
On a standard space shuttle crew, two of the astronauts have a test pilot background – the commander and the pilot.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
Some astronauts sleep in sort of beds – compartments that you can open up and crawl into and then close up, almost like a little bedroom.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
NASA has to approve whatever we wear, so there are clothes to choose from, like space shorts – we wear those a lot – and NASA T-shirts.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
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.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
The food isn’t too bad. It’s very different from the food that the astronauts ate in the very early days of the space program.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)
The stars don’t look bigger, but they do look brighter.
American astronaut and physicist (1951-2012)