Sally Ride: podcast appearances and interviews

Sally Kristen Ride was an American astronaut and physicist known for her historic spaceflights and contributions to STEM. Born in Southern California, she joined NASA in 1978 and made history in 1983 as the first American woman and the third woman overall to fly in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-7 mission. At the age of 32, she was the youngest American astronaut to have flown in space. She held degrees in physics and English literature from Stanford University, earning a Bachelor of Science, a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Science, and a Doctor of Philosophy in physics, with her research centered on the interaction of X-rays with the interstellar medium. After completing her training as a mission specialist astronaut with NASA's first class to include women, Ride contributed to the development of the Space Shuttle's robotic arm and served as a ground-based capsule communicator during subsequent missions. She flew a second time in 1984 on the STS-41-G mission, also aboard Challenger, totaling more than 343 hours in space before leaving NASA in 1987. Following her career at NASA, Ride worked at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control and at the University of California, San Diego, focusing on nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. She participated in investigations into the loss of both Challenger and Columbia, serving as the only person involved in both inquiries. She was married to astronaut Steven Hawley and had a long-term private relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy, which was revealed posthumously, making her the first astronaut known to have been LGBTQ.