WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.840 Welcome to the deep dive where we take these 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:05.059 massive complex stacks of information and really 00:00:05.059 --> 00:00:07.940 try to distill them down to the essential, fascinating, 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:11.380 and sometimes pretty shocking truths you need 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:13.720 to know. Today, we are absolutely undertaking 00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:17.100 a deep dive into a life that has been, I think, 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:19.039 universally celebrated, but, you know, rarely 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.940 understood in its full complexity. We're talking 00:00:21.940 --> 00:00:25.260 about the extraordinary trajectory of Sally Ride. 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:27.579 Right. For most people, that name is just forever 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:30.620 linked to one single monumental historical footnote. 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:33.579 The first American woman in space. And look, 00:00:33.659 --> 00:00:37.399 that fact, achieved on June 18th, 1983, is absolutely 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:39.500 monumental. You can't take that away. But we're 00:00:39.500 --> 00:00:42.320 here today because the sources, they just reveal 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:44.899 a story that is so much richer, more complex, 00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:47.159 and frankly, more intellectually challenging 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:49.420 than that single title suggests. Yeah, our mission 00:00:49.420 --> 00:00:51.240 today is really to move beyond that flashbulb 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:52.780 moment on the launch pad. We're talking about 00:00:52.780 --> 00:00:55.619 Sally Kristen Ride, born in L .A. in 1951. She 00:00:55.619 --> 00:00:58.179 was a woman who joined NASA in 1978 and just, 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.780 you know, shattered that American glass ceiling 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:03.700 right into orbit. But the real story, the real 00:01:03.700 --> 00:01:06.560 deep dive here, it focuses on the depth of her 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.920 intellectual life, her frankly surprising athletic 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:13.359 rigor, her critical and intensely private role 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:16.420 in maintaining NASA's integrity during its darkest 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:19.239 years. And the profound personal identity that 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:21.920 she protected right up until her death. So let's 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:23.819 start with some of the hard facts that immediately 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:26.439 distinguish her. Yes. Okay, first American woman, 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:29.760 huge milestone. But she was only the third woman 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.209 globally. That's a point that gets lost a lot. 00:01:32.329 --> 00:01:35.370 She followed two Soviet cosmonauts, Valentina 00:01:35.370 --> 00:01:38.549 Tereshkova all the way back in 1963, and then 00:01:38.549 --> 00:01:42.790 Svetlana Svetskaya in 1982. The American narrative 00:01:42.790 --> 00:01:44.969 kind of tends to forget that 20 -year gap between 00:01:44.969 --> 00:01:47.590 Tereshkova and Ride. Right. And what often gets 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:50.230 buried under the weight of that first title is 00:01:50.230 --> 00:01:51.909 that when she flew on the space shuttle Challenger, 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:55.280 She was only 32 years old. Which made her, at 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:57.500 that moment, the youngest American astronaut 00:01:57.500 --> 00:01:59.939 who had ever flown in space. And that, I mean, 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:01.980 that just speaks volumes about her rapid ascent 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:04.540 and the immense trust NASA had to have placed 00:02:04.540 --> 00:02:07.939 in her technical ability. And when you look at 00:02:07.939 --> 00:02:10.719 the source material we have, you realize her 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:14.080 professional makeup was just... It was completely 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.599 unique. We're studying a woman who simultaneously 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:19.539 excelled in the, you know, the super cerebral 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:22.319 world of theoretical physics, earning a Ph .D. 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:24.939 from Stanford. And the intensely physical, competitive 00:02:24.939 --> 00:02:28.139 world of elite sports. She was on the verge of 00:02:28.139 --> 00:02:30.280 turning professional in tennis. I mean, who does 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.000 that? Exactly. That versatility, the ability 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:35.060 to be a world class athlete and a world class 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:38.080 astrophysicist. That is the key to understanding 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.759 her resilience. Absolutely. We're going to explore 00:02:40.759 --> 00:02:43.280 how that unexpected foundation prepared her not 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:45.580 just for spaceflight, but for navigating the 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:47.719 high stakes political and cultural pressure she 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.180 faced and then the lasting legacy she built through 00:02:50.180 --> 00:02:53.319 decades of devotion to science, policy and education. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.479 OK, let's unpack this unusual foundational period. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:58.699 Let's start in Los Angeles. She grew up in a 00:02:58.699 --> 00:03:00.740 really supportive, academically engaged environment, 00:03:01.099 --> 00:03:03.400 primarily in the Encino and Van Nuys neighborhoods 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:06.139 of the city. Her family dynamic is so crucial 00:03:06.139 --> 00:03:09.300 here. Her parents, Dale and Carol Joyce Ride, 00:03:09.520 --> 00:03:11.900 were both elders in the Presbyterian Church, 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:14.439 but their lives were really defined by public 00:03:14.439 --> 00:03:17.120 service and this deep intellectual curiosity, 00:03:17.400 --> 00:03:20.539 not just faith. Right. Her father, Dale, he was 00:03:20.539 --> 00:03:22.120 a political science professor at Santa Monica 00:03:22.120 --> 00:03:24.719 College. So that means she was raised in a household 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:27.740 where political discourse and civic entertaining 00:03:27.740 --> 00:03:29.949 were just part of dinner conversation. And her 00:03:29.949 --> 00:03:32.530 mother, Carol Joyce, was a volunteer counselor 00:03:32.530 --> 00:03:34.669 at a women's correctional facility, which just 00:03:34.669 --> 00:03:37.909 underscores this commitment to social impact, 00:03:38.229 --> 00:03:40.729 to helping others. So it's not just an academically 00:03:40.729 --> 00:03:42.370 supportive environment. It was an environment 00:03:42.370 --> 00:03:45.610 where public service, critical thinking, and, 00:03:45.650 --> 00:03:48.110 you know, a sense of social justice were modeled 00:03:48.110 --> 00:03:50.990 every single day. Exactly. And she had one sibling, 00:03:51.150 --> 00:03:53.050 a younger sister, Karen, who went by the nickname 00:03:53.050 --> 00:03:56.830 Bear. That core value system of using your intellect 00:03:56.830 --> 00:03:58.750 for the public good, that's something we see 00:03:58.750 --> 00:04:00.930 reflected decades later in all of her policy 00:04:00.930 --> 00:04:03.629 work. But the primary narrative of her early 00:04:03.629 --> 00:04:06.389 life is almost completely dominated by tennis. 00:04:06.610 --> 00:04:08.469 I mean, professional level tennis. This wasn't 00:04:08.469 --> 00:04:10.750 just a sport for her. It was an identity that 00:04:10.750 --> 00:04:12.930 shaped her discipline and her competitive drive. 00:04:13.569 --> 00:04:16.290 Where did this all begin? It started when she 00:04:16.290 --> 00:04:19.009 was nine. Her family spent a year traveling through 00:04:19.009 --> 00:04:21.230 Europe, and she discovered the game in Spain. 00:04:21.750 --> 00:04:24.029 And by age 10, when they were back in California, 00:04:24.310 --> 00:04:26.889 she was so serious about it, she was being coached 00:04:26.889 --> 00:04:29.889 by a legend of the sport, Alice Marble, a former 00:04:29.889 --> 00:04:32.389 world number one player. A world number one. 00:04:32.509 --> 00:04:34.629 Yeah. At age 10, that just highlights the intensity 00:04:34.629 --> 00:04:37.790 right there. Oh, yeah. By 1963, she was ranked 00:04:37.790 --> 00:04:40.230 number 20 in Southern California for girls 12 00:04:40.230 --> 00:04:42.350 and under. I mean, that is a massively competitive 00:04:42.350 --> 00:04:44.850 pool. It indicates she had already dedicated 00:04:44.850 --> 00:04:47.149 thousands of hours to the craft. And she even 00:04:47.149 --> 00:04:49.009 attended the prestigious Westlake School for 00:04:49.009 --> 00:04:51.850 Girls in L .A. on a tennis scholarship, which 00:04:51.850 --> 00:04:53.889 shows that the sport was already dictating her 00:04:53.889 --> 00:04:56.170 academic path. And this talent, it initially 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:59.529 led her far from California. In 1968, she enrolled 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:01.829 at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania on a full 00:05:01.829 --> 00:05:04.750 scholarship. And while she was there, She didn't 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:07.930 just play tennis. She made the field hockey varsity 00:05:07.930 --> 00:05:10.410 team and even played golf. I mean, this just 00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:13.129 shows an astonishing level of general athletic 00:05:13.129 --> 00:05:15.750 ability. Her tennis performance at Swarthmore 00:05:15.750 --> 00:05:19.610 was just dominant. She won all six of her intercollegiate 00:05:19.610 --> 00:05:22.649 matches, and most significantly, she became the 00:05:22.649 --> 00:05:25.290 Eastern Intercollegiate Women's Singles Champion. 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:28.660 But the path to the pros. That was a harsh reality 00:05:28.660 --> 00:05:31.540 check, wasn't it? It was. She defended that title 00:05:31.540 --> 00:05:34.620 in May 1969, won it easily, but she recognized 00:05:34.620 --> 00:05:36.579 that the college infrastructure back then, especially 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:38.939 before Title X, really reshaped women's sports. 00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:41.100 It just couldn't support her aspirations for 00:05:41.100 --> 00:05:43.660 the professional tour. Oh, so? Well, Swarthmore 00:05:43.660 --> 00:05:46.920 had outdoor courts, but no indoor ones. So year 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:49.120 -round, intensive practice, it was impossible. 00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.160 So this pivot point, moving from this near -professional 00:05:52.160 --> 00:05:55.420 sports career back to academics, it shows incredible 00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:58.680 mental clarity. and an ability to analyze her 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:01.800 own potential with, like, brutal honesty. She 00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.120 returned to California in January 1970 with the 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:06.120 explicit goal of becoming a professional player. 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:09.709 She even enrolled briefly at UCLA. And she was 00:06:09.709 --> 00:06:11.769 taking Shakespeare and quantum mechanics courses 00:06:11.769 --> 00:06:14.850 there and getting A's in both, by the way, while 00:06:14.850 --> 00:06:16.290 she was trying to break into the professional 00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:18.790 circuit. But she calculated the cost. I mean, 00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:21.029 literally, she played three exhausting matches 00:06:21.029 --> 00:06:23.589 in a single August morning. And the body ache 00:06:23.589 --> 00:06:25.769 that resulted just made her realize what the 00:06:25.769 --> 00:06:29.230 next level required. Eight hours of focus practice 00:06:29.230 --> 00:06:33.050 a day, day in, day out. And she concluded, and 00:06:33.050 --> 00:06:36.389 the sources really stress this, that she did 00:06:36.389 --> 00:06:38.839 not have what it took. Which isn't a statement 00:06:38.839 --> 00:06:40.300 of failure, right? It's a statement of calculated 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:44.180 choice. Exactly. She looked at the required commitment 00:06:44.180 --> 00:06:47.199 to be the best in that field and decided to channel 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:49.040 that discipline into a different mountain to 00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:52.199 climb, academics. It's a powerful lesson in resource 00:06:52.199 --> 00:06:55.100 allocation. And that new mountain was Stanford 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:57.660 University. And interestingly, the dean of admissions 00:06:57.660 --> 00:07:00.220 who approved her transfer, Fred Hargadon, was 00:07:00.220 --> 00:07:02.240 the exact same person who had interviewed her 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:05.660 for Swarthmore years earlier. A small but, you 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:07.839 know, powerful connection that probably eased 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.319 her transition back into that high caliber academic 00:07:10.319 --> 00:07:13.420 setting. Her academic output at Stanford, this 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:16.560 really cemented her status as a polymath. In 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:20.000 1973, she earned two bachelor's degrees simultaneously, 00:07:20.680 --> 00:07:23.220 a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Bachelor 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:25.889 of Arts in English Literature. A physicist who 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:28.310 could analyze the structural complexity of a 00:07:28.310 --> 00:07:31.709 free electron laser while simultaneously grappling 00:07:31.709 --> 00:07:33.610 with the narrative complexity of Shakespeare. 00:07:33.910 --> 00:07:36.430 I mean, come on. That duality, right? The technical 00:07:36.430 --> 00:07:39.029 precision combined with this deep capacity for 00:07:39.029 --> 00:07:42.189 communication and humanistic understanding that 00:07:42.189 --> 00:07:44.529 is absolutely critical to her future success 00:07:44.529 --> 00:07:46.310 at NASA. It's a place that requires technical 00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:48.389 excellence, but also this incredible communication 00:07:48.389 --> 00:07:51.589 prowess with the public, with politicians. But 00:07:51.589 --> 00:07:53.550 she wasn't satisfied with two bachelor's degrees. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:56.819 She channeled that relentless focus she'd used 00:07:56.819 --> 00:07:59.360 on the tennis court entirely into physics. She 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:02.019 earned a Master of Science in 1975, and then 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:04.170 critically, the Doctor of Philosophy, the PhD, 00:08:04.350 --> 00:08:07.290 in 1978. And we really need to pause on the rigor 00:08:07.290 --> 00:08:09.490 of this scientific research because this part 00:08:09.490 --> 00:08:11.990 often gets sidelined by the astronaut narrative. 00:08:12.370 --> 00:08:14.750 It makes it sound like she just had some generic 00:08:14.750 --> 00:08:18.129 science degree. Her specialty was advanced astrophysics 00:08:18.129 --> 00:08:20.389 and the then -emerging field of free electron 00:08:20.389 --> 00:08:22.629 lasers. So what was her dissertation on? The 00:08:22.629 --> 00:08:24.709 source material gives us specifics, right? It 00:08:24.709 --> 00:08:27.310 does. Her doctoral dissertation, written under 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:29.730 the supervision of Arthur B .C. Walker, Jr., 00:08:29.730 --> 00:08:32.029 focused specifically on the interaction of... 00:08:32.039 --> 00:08:34.720 x -rays with the interstellar medium. Okay, so 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:38.940 that is serious, high -level theoretical physics. 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:42.860 It's pure, fundamental science analyzing how 00:08:42.860 --> 00:08:45.019 high -energy photons interact with the vast, 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:48.059 diffuse material between stars. Right. It sets 00:08:48.059 --> 00:08:50.340 her apart immediately from the test pilots and 00:08:50.340 --> 00:08:52.460 the military officers who typically populated 00:08:52.460 --> 00:08:54.919 the astronaut corps. Her technical expertise 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:57.419 wasn't in operational aerospace. It was in the 00:08:57.419 --> 00:08:59.860 deepest theoretical workings of the cosmos itself. 00:09:00.159 --> 00:09:02.639 That technical grounding provided this indispensable 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:04.960 layer of credibility when she later became a 00:09:04.960 --> 00:09:07.259 mission specialist. And before we jump into the 00:09:07.259 --> 00:09:09.220 NASA recruitment that radically changed her life, 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:12.120 the sources give us a brief... but important 00:09:12.120 --> 00:09:15.659 look into her pre -NASA personal life during 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:18.460 these demanding academic years. And this really 00:09:18.460 --> 00:09:21.340 sets up the crucial context for later. Yes. During 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:23.039 this time, the sources know she lived with a 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:25.200 fellow graduate physics student, Bill Coulson, 00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:27.659 after ending a relationship with another partner, 00:09:27.899 --> 00:09:31.019 John Tompkins. But more importantly, and this 00:09:31.019 --> 00:09:33.779 is relevant to her later life, the source material 00:09:33.779 --> 00:09:36.799 explicitly mentions her close relationship during 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:39.379 her Stanford years with Molly Tyson, who was 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:41.960 her tennis doubles partner. And the source identifies 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:45.740 Tyson as Ride's then -girlfriend. Although that 00:09:45.740 --> 00:09:48.779 relationship ended in 1975, the fact that these 00:09:48.779 --> 00:09:51.179 relationships existed and were part of her life 00:09:51.179 --> 00:09:53.539 during this formative period while she was actively 00:09:53.539 --> 00:09:55.899 applying to the most public, most scrutinized 00:09:55.899 --> 00:09:58.659 job in the world, it just foreshadows the deep 00:09:58.659 --> 00:10:00.700 sense of privacy she would maintain for the rest 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:03.879 of her career. Okay, so we have this exceptionally 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:07.820 accomplished individual, a Ph .D. in astrophysics, 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:11.779 an elite athlete. a nuanced academic living a 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:16.039 guarded but full life. What was the exact moment, 00:10:16.179 --> 00:10:19.240 the catalyst, that took her from the theoretical 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:22.820 physics lab bench to the launch pad? The catalyst 00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:26.440 was remarkably specific and almost low -key. 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:30.379 It was an article she saw in January 1977 on 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:32.779 the front page of the Stanford Daily. Her student 00:10:32.779 --> 00:10:34.980 newspaper. Student newspaper. It was a clear, 00:10:34.980 --> 00:10:37.440 concise announcement. NASA was recruiting a new 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.559 group of astronauts for the upcoming Space Shuttle 00:10:39.559 --> 00:10:41.860 program, and for the first time in American history, 00:10:42.100 --> 00:10:44.179 they were actively seeking women candidates. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.559 The response to this open call must have been 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:49.120 massive. It was unprecedented. She mailed a request, 00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:51.240 got the application forms, and submitted her 00:10:51.240 --> 00:10:53.700 material. And when NASA asked for three people 00:10:53.700 --> 00:10:55.919 who knew her qualifications, she listed the three 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.080 peers she had been in relationships with, Bill 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.100 Colson, John Tompkins, and Molly Tyson. She trusted 00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:02.779 their professional and personal assessment of 00:11:02.779 --> 00:11:05.000 her character. And NASA received. What was the 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:08.559 number? An absolutely overwhelming 8 ,079 applications 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:11.120 by the deadline. Yeah, to put that in perspective, 00:11:11.299 --> 00:11:13.960 that's thousands of people vying for fewer than 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:17.779 40 slots. She was among the 208 finalists invited 00:11:17.779 --> 00:11:20.419 to the Johnson Space Center in Houston for these 00:11:20.419 --> 00:11:22.820 grueling extended interviews and medical exams. 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:26.419 And her physical fitness, honed by years of elite 00:11:26.419 --> 00:11:28.679 tennis training, that must have immediately impressed 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:31.940 the doctors. It did. But the scrutiny she faced 00:11:31.940 --> 00:11:34.700 during these interviews was intense, and often 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:38.960 openly and just frankly, shockingly sexist. It 00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:41.620 was reflective of the deeply conservative, male 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:43.840 -dominated institution she was trying to enter. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:45.980 They asked some pretty invasive questions, didn't 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:48.299 they? Deeply inappropriate. She was asked if 00:11:48.299 --> 00:11:50.000 the flight would affect her reproductive organs, 00:11:50.340 --> 00:11:52.480 a concern they certainly weren't raising with 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:55.000 the male candidates. And perhaps most famously, 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:57.500 she was asked if she would weep when things inevitably 00:11:57.500 --> 00:12:00.059 went wrong or got stressful on the job. How did 00:12:00.059 --> 00:12:02.179 she even respond to that? Her response became 00:12:02.179 --> 00:12:05.200 legendary. It was a model of professional deflection. 00:12:05.259 --> 00:12:07.299 She simply insisted insisted that she saw herself 00:12:07.299 --> 00:12:10.720 in only one way as an astronaut. She just refused 00:12:10.720 --> 00:12:12.639 to engage with the gendered expectations being 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:15.460 forced on her. And it worked. She was selected 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:19.539 in January 1978 as one of 35 astronaut candidates 00:12:19.539 --> 00:12:23.580 known officially as NASA Astronaut Group 8. And 00:12:23.580 --> 00:12:26.240 crucially, this group included six women, which 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:28.360 was a revolutionary number for the agency at 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:30.879 the time. And we have a great anecdote that immediately 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.779 conveys the culture she was stepping into. The 00:12:33.779 --> 00:12:35.659 group's official public name was... Delightly 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:39.860 referred to as 35 new guys, but internally. Internally, 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:43.240 they call themselves TFNG, which that acronym 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:45.399 was known within the military community to stand 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:49.899 for the fucking new guy. A decidedly irreverent 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:52.340 and exclusive military phrase for newcomers to 00:12:52.340 --> 00:12:55.159 a unit. That nickname tells you everything about 00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:57.720 the intense, insular and often aggressive culture 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.950 she was navigating. It was military heavy. deeply 00:13:00.950 --> 00:13:03.070 traditional, and she had to earn respect in that 00:13:03.070 --> 00:13:05.090 environment, not just as a woman, but as a civilian 00:13:05.090 --> 00:13:07.470 PhD among a bunch of fighter pilots. And the 00:13:07.470 --> 00:13:09.850 training itself was immensely rigorous. It included 00:13:09.850 --> 00:13:13.090 flying the T -38 Talon jet. Now, mission specialists, 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:15.429 which was her track, were technically only required 00:13:15.429 --> 00:13:17.490 to ride in the back seat. Right, just to handle 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:19.490 an emergency if the pilot was incapacitated. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:21.799 Exactly. They certainly weren't supposed to fly 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:23.759 lower than the 5 ,000 feet limit established 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.779 for training. But proficient candidates, including 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:30.080 Ride, they push those boundaries. I read one 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:32.980 colleague, John Fabian, reportedly had her fly 00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:35.799 Under the hood. That's right. Which means using 00:13:35.799 --> 00:13:38.679 instruments only, windows blacked out. And that 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.840 requires exceptional focus, precision, and trust 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.679 in your instruments. She thrived in this environment. 00:13:45.019 --> 00:13:47.179 She enjoyed flying so much that she took private 00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:50.080 lessons, earned a private pilot's license, and 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.840 even bought a part interest in a Grumman Tiger 00:13:52.840 --> 00:13:56.019 aircraft that she used for weekend trips. So 00:13:56.019 --> 00:13:59.379 by August 1979, she was no longer a candidate. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:02.080 She was an official NASA astronaut. And before 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:04.559 her first trip. to space, she gained absolutely 00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:06.759 critical operational experience on the ground. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:09.679 She served as the ground -based capsule communicator, 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:12.700 or CAPCOM, for the second and third stage shuttle 00:14:12.700 --> 00:14:15.139 flights. And this is a huge role. The CAPCOM 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:17.159 is the person who is the voice of mission control, 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:19.659 talking directly to the crew in orbit. And she 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:21.539 was the first woman ever to hold that pivotal 00:14:21.539 --> 00:14:24.580 role. That experience is essential. It gives 00:14:24.580 --> 00:14:27.000 her this deep insight into mission operations, 00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:31.539 protocol, crisis management. all from the perspective 00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:34.340 of the ground team. She also used her technical 00:14:34.340 --> 00:14:36.340 expertise to help develop the Shuttle Remote 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:38.980 Manipulator System, the RMS, which is better 00:14:38.980 --> 00:14:42.299 known as the Canadarm. This is a massive, complex 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:45.639 robotic arm used for handling payloads in space. 00:14:46.059 --> 00:14:48.679 So her skill with the robotic arm, combined with 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.320 her stellar performance as CAPCOM, made her an 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:53.679 undeniable choice for a mission specialist role, 00:14:53.940 --> 00:14:56.340 even if there was some internal resistance from 00:14:56.340 --> 00:14:58.740 high -level NASA management who were, let's say, 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:01.179 Uncomfortable with the changing demographics 00:15:01.179 --> 00:15:03.960 of the core. Definitely. Her selection for STS 00:15:03.960 --> 00:15:06.200 -7 aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger was officially 00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:09.320 announced in April 1982. And this is when the 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:11.419 intensity of the world's scrutiny truly landed. 00:15:11.850 --> 00:15:14.370 She became an instant global celebrity. And her 00:15:14.370 --> 00:15:16.610 immediate response was just to minimize the personal 00:15:16.610 --> 00:15:19.570 spectacle. She declined over 500 private interview 00:15:19.570 --> 00:15:21.450 requests before the launch press conference. 00:15:21.730 --> 00:15:23.870 She understood that if she engaged the celebrity 00:15:23.870 --> 00:15:26.070 machine, it would immediately undermine her professional 00:15:26.070 --> 00:15:29.029 status. She wanted the story to be about the 00:15:29.029 --> 00:15:31.509 mission, not about her being a woman. But the 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:35.409 media? and even NASA's own engineers, they just 00:15:35.409 --> 00:15:37.730 couldn't get past the gender factor. This led 00:15:37.730 --> 00:15:40.129 to those infamous and almost comical examples 00:15:40.129 --> 00:15:42.970 of ingrained sexism. Right, like the engineers 00:15:42.970 --> 00:15:45.730 asking her to help them develop a space makeup 00:15:45.730 --> 00:15:47.889 kit. The underlying assumption being that female 00:15:47.889 --> 00:15:50.529 astronauts would, what, prioritize vanity in 00:15:50.529 --> 00:15:52.330 orbit. And then there's the legendary example 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:55.330 that still shocks people. For the six -day mission, 00:15:55.509 --> 00:15:57.389 they suggested providing her with a supply of 00:15:57.389 --> 00:16:01.649 100 tampons. 100 tampons. For six days. The utter 00:16:01.649 --> 00:16:03.970 lack of understanding about basic human biology, 00:16:04.169 --> 00:16:07.570 even among NASA's technical staff, it just underscores 00:16:07.570 --> 00:16:10.429 how unprepared the agency was for female astronauts. 00:16:10.750 --> 00:16:13.450 So the launch finally happens on June 18, 1983. 00:16:14.360 --> 00:16:16.559 The energy surrounding the event was palpable, 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:19.100 captured perfectly by fans wearing T -shirts 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:22.379 bearing the lyrics, Ride Sally Ride. And on that 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:24.759 day, she secured her historical status as the 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.399 first American woman and the youngest American 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:31.799 in space. And the mission itself, STS -7, was 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:35.159 far from ceremonial. It was highly complex technologically. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.679 The main objectives involved deploying two communication 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:43.000 satellites, ANIC -C2 for Canada and PALAPU -B1 00:16:43.000 --> 00:16:45.370 for Indonesia. and the first -ever deployment 00:16:45.370 --> 00:16:47.950 of the Shuttle Pallet Satellite, SPIAS -1. And 00:16:47.950 --> 00:16:50.049 her specific role placed her right at the center 00:16:50.049 --> 00:16:53.110 of this technical activity. She operated the 00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:56.450 robotic arm, the RMS, to both deploy and then, 00:16:56.490 --> 00:16:59.809 crucially, retrieve SEPIAS -1. This was the first 00:16:59.809 --> 00:17:01.809 time that deployment and retrieval of a complex 00:17:01.809 --> 00:17:04.089 scientific payload had been executed from the 00:17:04.089 --> 00:17:06.180 Shuttle. And she demonstrated a technical flair 00:17:06.180 --> 00:17:08.599 beyond the handbook. She manipulated the arm 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:10.859 into the shape of a 7 for a photograph taken 00:17:10.859 --> 00:17:13.799 by SPS -1 as it flew free, which marked the first 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:15.859 time the orbiter was captured photographically 00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:17.839 in orbit. So she wasn't just following instructions. 00:17:17.940 --> 00:17:19.980 She was innovating how the equipment could be 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:22.180 used for mission objectives and even for public 00:17:22.180 --> 00:17:25.660 relations. Exactly. She also demonstrated remarkable 00:17:25.660 --> 00:17:29.829 physical robustness. Unlike many rookie astronauts, 00:17:30.210 --> 00:17:32.769 she wasn't affected by space adaptation syndrome, 00:17:33.049 --> 00:17:35.509 that acute nausea that's often experienced when 00:17:35.509 --> 00:17:38.009 the body adjusts to microgravity. The mission 00:17:38.009 --> 00:17:41.589 lasted over six days. Post -flight, the celebrity 00:17:41.589 --> 00:17:44.690 machine finally caught up with her, but she navigated 00:17:44.690 --> 00:17:47.029 it carefully. She met with President Reagan, 00:17:47.230 --> 00:17:49.549 famously presenting him with jelly beans that 00:17:49.549 --> 00:17:51.559 had flown on the mission. She also testified 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:53.859 before Congress about the efficacy and reliability 00:17:53.859 --> 00:17:56.859 of the robotic arm, lending her technical credibility 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:59.440 to the program's future. And what's fascinating 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:01.839 here is her proactive connection to international 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:05.500 space history. In September 1983, she took the 00:18:05.500 --> 00:18:08.539 initiative to meet Svetlana Savitskaya, the second 00:18:08.539 --> 00:18:11.039 woman in space, just one spot ahead of her, in 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:14.079 Budapest. The sources describe an instant camaraderie 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.700 between the two pioneers. They spent six hours 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:19.559 conversing, exchanging mementos. Despite the 00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:21.980 Cold War context and the historical tension between 00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:24.539 the two nations' space programs, Wright immediately 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:26.940 recognized the shared boundary -breaking experience 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:29.599 they both held. And she was back in the rotation 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.890 quickly. Her second spaceflight, STS -41G, launched 00:18:33.890 --> 00:18:37.789 in October 1984, again aboard Challenger. This 00:18:37.789 --> 00:18:39.849 made her the first American woman to fly twice, 00:18:40.150 --> 00:18:43.130 cementing her status as a career astronaut, not 00:18:43.130 --> 00:18:45.029 just a symbol. And this mission achieved another 00:18:45.029 --> 00:18:47.849 significant milestone for women in space. It 00:18:47.849 --> 00:18:49.769 was the first time two women were in space together, 00:18:49.930 --> 00:18:52.349 with Catherine Sullivan on board as a fellow 00:18:52.349 --> 00:18:55.150 mission specialist. And Sullivan also used this 00:18:55.150 --> 00:18:57.349 flight to become the first American woman to 00:18:57.349 --> 00:19:01.170 perform an extravehicular activity. EVA, a spacewalk. 00:19:01.390 --> 00:19:04.430 As a veteran astronaut now, Ride performed flawlessly. 00:19:04.710 --> 00:19:07.049 We know from the sources that unlike the rookies 00:19:07.049 --> 00:19:09.190 on that flight who moved about cautiously to 00:19:09.190 --> 00:19:11.930 avoid space adaptation syndrome, Ride immediately 00:19:11.930 --> 00:19:14.150 and gracefully began moving about, completely 00:19:14.150 --> 00:19:16.269 unaffected by the transition to weightlessness. 00:19:16.609 --> 00:19:18.769 She was clearly a master of the environment. 00:19:19.089 --> 00:19:21.289 And the second flight delivered the perfect anecdote 00:19:21.289 --> 00:19:23.690 for her technical agility and ability to innovate 00:19:23.690 --> 00:19:25.890 under pressure. When the huge shuttle imaging 00:19:25.890 --> 00:19:28.869 radar antenna, the SR -RB, failed to unfold correctly. 00:19:29.390 --> 00:19:31.309 Threatening a major objective of the mission, 00:19:31.529 --> 00:19:34.250 she stepped in. Instead of following standard 00:19:34.250 --> 00:19:36.970 procedure, she skillfully used the robot arm, 00:19:37.089 --> 00:19:40.670 the RMS, to gently shake the antenna loose. She 00:19:40.670 --> 00:19:43.190 manipulated the arm faster and with more finesse 00:19:43.190 --> 00:19:45.750 than she had ever been trained to. When the antenna 00:19:45.750 --> 00:19:48.250 latches failed to close later, she was again 00:19:48.250 --> 00:19:50.250 the one who used the RMS to nudge the antenna 00:19:50.250 --> 00:19:52.519 panel shut. This wasn't a scripted maneuver. 00:19:52.740 --> 00:19:55.880 This was skillful, veteran, real -time technical 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:58.700 problem solving. It demonstrated her indispensable 00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:01.319 value to the crew. She also carried a memento 00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:03.839 that provided this beautiful narrative link between 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.920 aviation pioneers, a white silk scarf previously 00:20:06.920 --> 00:20:10.279 worn by Amelia Earhart. This gesture connects 00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:12.579 her achievement directly to the lineage of female 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:15.200 boundary breakers who preceded her. After her 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:17.500 two flights, Wright had spent a total of over 00:20:17.500 --> 00:20:21.039 343 hours in space. She was a proven flight veteran, 00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:24.359 a technical operator, a respected CAPCOM. But 00:20:24.359 --> 00:20:26.079 as we move into the next phase of her career, 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:28.079 we find that her greatest contribution will be 00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:30.319 made not from the operational cockpit. But in 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.339 the political and investigative rooms of power? 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:34.920 Okay, this is the dramatic pivot point of her 00:20:34.920 --> 00:20:37.539 story, where the celebrated pioneer transforms 00:20:37.539 --> 00:20:40.160 into the indispensable investigator and policy 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:42.859 shaper. She was actively training for her third 00:20:42.859 --> 00:20:46.039 mission, STS -61I, which was later switched to 00:20:46.039 --> 00:20:49.900 STS -61M, both scheduled for 1986. But the pressures 00:20:49.900 --> 00:20:52.920 of 1985 were already immense, both professionally 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:55.420 and personally. Right. Her marriage to fellow 00:20:55.420 --> 00:20:57.500 astronaut Stephen Hawley, whom she had married 00:20:57.500 --> 00:21:00.930 in 1982, was under severe strain. And she was 00:21:00.930 --> 00:21:03.269 still performing the required public -facing 00:21:03.269 --> 00:21:06.390 role of an astronaut spouse for Hawley's STS 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:10.609 -61C flight in January 1986. But sources confirm 00:21:10.609 --> 00:21:13.029 her life was already moving in a different, intensely 00:21:13.029 --> 00:21:15.849 private direction. She had secretly begun an 00:21:15.849 --> 00:21:17.890 affair with Tam O'Shaughnessy, her former junior 00:21:17.890 --> 00:21:19.769 tennis circuit friend who was living in Atlanta 00:21:19.769 --> 00:21:22.490 at the time. Then, just weeks later, everything 00:21:22.490 --> 00:21:24.839 changed. The planned missions were all canceled. 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:28.099 On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger 00:21:28.099 --> 00:21:30.599 disintegrated shortly after launch. That tragedy 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:32.920 completely derailed her flying career and forced 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:35.380 her into this new, incredibly high -stakes role. 00:21:35.789 --> 00:21:37.769 Ride was immediately appointed to the Presidential 00:21:37.769 --> 00:21:40.410 Commission investigating the disaster, famously 00:21:40.410 --> 00:21:43.269 known as the Rogers Commission. And her role 00:21:43.269 --> 00:21:45.329 was not just important. It was fundamentally 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:47.890 unique and critical to the investigation's integrity. 00:21:48.109 --> 00:21:50.069 Because she was the only person on the commission 00:21:50.069 --> 00:21:53.650 who was a current NASA employee and the only 00:21:53.650 --> 00:21:56.630 space shuttle astronaut on the committee. This 00:21:56.630 --> 00:21:59.190 meant she knew the institutional culture, the 00:21:59.190 --> 00:22:01.849 operational pressures, and the human cost of 00:22:01.849 --> 00:22:04.069 failure better than anyone else at that table. 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.460 And here's the absolute hinge moment of her professional 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:10.539 integrity. We know from the source material that 00:22:10.539 --> 00:22:12.880 she discreetly provided Major General Donald 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:15.420 J. Kutaina with the single most critical piece 00:22:15.420 --> 00:22:17.559 of evidence regarding the technical cause of 00:22:17.559 --> 00:22:19.740 the disaster. Wait, so she was a current NASA 00:22:19.740 --> 00:22:22.460 employee, actively training, immersed in the 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:25.579 institution, and she risked her entire career 00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:27.900 and her standing within the agency to pass on 00:22:27.900 --> 00:22:30.519 that single critical piece of evidence. She did. 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:33.579 She provided the discreet, highly sensitive information 00:22:33.579 --> 00:22:35.099 regarding... regarding the O -rings becoming 00:22:35.099 --> 00:22:37.500 dangerously stiff at low temperatures. Which 00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:39.920 was the cause. That was the core engineering 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.400 defect that led to the breach and the subsequent 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:45.180 explosion. This detail was known within certain 00:22:45.180 --> 00:22:47.500 engineering circles at NASA and Morton Theocol. 00:22:48.220 --> 00:22:51.259 but it had been politically suppressed. So this 00:22:51.259 --> 00:22:54.220 revelation had to be handled with extreme delicacy 00:22:54.220 --> 00:22:57.759 to protect her as the source, given the massive 00:22:57.759 --> 00:22:59.920 political fallout that was certain to occur. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.180 Exactly. That critical information was then credited 00:23:03.180 --> 00:23:06.559 publicly to the physicist Richard Feynman, who 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:09.079 famously demonstrated the O -ring failure using 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:11.099 a simple glass of ice water during the public 00:23:11.099 --> 00:23:13.970 hearings. That move crediting Feynman was the 00:23:13.970 --> 00:23:16.809 political shield. It protected Ride from being 00:23:16.809 --> 00:23:19.750 identified as the primary internal whistleblower, 00:23:19.849 --> 00:23:22.569 allowing her to keep her job and her credibility 00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:25.170 while ensuring the truth about NASA's catastrophic 00:23:25.170 --> 00:23:28.049 management failure came to light. It demonstrates 00:23:28.049 --> 00:23:30.390 immense personal and professional integrity. 00:23:30.750 --> 00:23:33.170 She was deeply disturbed, even haunted. by the 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:34.950 revelations that came out of the commission about 00:23:34.950 --> 00:23:37.410 NASA's dysfunctional management and broken risk 00:23:37.410 --> 00:23:40.210 assessment processes. Specifically, how the agency 00:23:40.210 --> 00:23:43.190 ignored repeated warnings from engineers about 00:23:43.190 --> 00:23:45.930 the O -ring problem. And she didn't just investigate 00:23:45.930 --> 00:23:48.509 the failure. She openly supported those who tried 00:23:48.509 --> 00:23:51.829 to warn the agency. Roger Boisjoli, the engineer 00:23:51.829 --> 00:23:53.970 who had specifically warned of the O -ring problems, 00:23:54.230 --> 00:23:56.970 was being professionally shunned and ostracized 00:23:56.970 --> 00:24:00.309 by his employer. Morton Theokol. And Ride made 00:24:00.309 --> 00:24:03.049 a very public statement of support by publicly 00:24:03.049 --> 00:24:06.009 hugging Bourgeois, showing solidarity for his 00:24:06.009 --> 00:24:07.970 efforts and his courage in speaking the truth 00:24:07.970 --> 00:24:11.190 to power. This was a direct rebuke to the toxic 00:24:11.190 --> 00:24:14.210 corporate culture that penalized honesty. So 00:24:14.210 --> 00:24:16.349 following the Rogers Commission report, which 00:24:16.349 --> 00:24:19.529 was submitted in June 1986, Ride was assigned 00:24:19.529 --> 00:24:22.569 to a new role at NASA headquarters, leading the 00:24:22.569 --> 00:24:25.049 agency's first formal strategic planning effort. 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:28.380 This cemented her transition from pilot to policy 00:24:28.380 --> 00:24:31.000 expert. This resulted in her authorship of the 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:33.700 landmark report, NASA Leadership and America's 00:24:33.700 --> 00:24:36.079 Future in Space. And what's fascinating about 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.400 this document is the political controversy. NASA 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:41.250 management actively disliked it. Why the fiction? 00:24:41.390 --> 00:24:43.809 Because Ride, being pragmatic and scientifically 00:24:43.809 --> 00:24:46.990 sound, prioritized Earth exploration and scientific 00:24:46.990 --> 00:24:49.250 observation over the then politically charged 00:24:49.250 --> 00:24:52.490 mission to Mars. She argued that short -term, 00:24:52.490 --> 00:24:55.210 achievable goals that benefited humanity directly 00:24:55.210 --> 00:24:57.769 were a better use of resources than a massive, 00:24:57.890 --> 00:25:00.670 politically driven Mars endeavor. She refused 00:25:00.670 --> 00:25:03.549 to let political aspiration dictate sound strategy. 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:06.579 She briefly founded and headed NASA's Office 00:25:06.579 --> 00:25:09.240 of Exploration, but the institutional resistance 00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:11.759 and the dysfunctional atmosphere she had witnessed 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:14.220 during the commission clearly pushed her toward 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:17.460 academia. In May 1987, she announced she was 00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:19.940 leaving the agency to accept a two -year fellowship 00:25:19.940 --> 00:25:22.059 at Stanford University's Center for International 00:25:22.059 --> 00:25:25.460 Security and Arms Control, or SISAC. She divorced 00:25:25.460 --> 00:25:28.420 Hawley that June. The move to SISAC was an intense, 00:25:28.519 --> 00:25:31.069 high -level pivot to policy. Her research focused 00:25:31.069 --> 00:25:33.450 on means by which nuclear warheads could be counted 00:25:33.450 --> 00:25:36.109 and verified from space, placing her at the nexus 00:25:36.109 --> 00:25:38.349 of astrophysics, engineering and international 00:25:38.349 --> 00:25:41.269 security policy. She was working alongside major 00:25:41.269 --> 00:25:44.130 policy players, including a future secretary 00:25:44.130 --> 00:25:47.519 of state, Condoleezza Rice. The fact that she 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.039 was researching arms control issues from a technical 00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.559 perspective underscores that unique blend of 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:54.779 physics and political science that was present 00:25:54.779 --> 00:25:56.720 from her family upbringing. But professional 00:25:56.720 --> 00:25:59.099 life at Stanford, despite her immense professional 00:25:59.099 --> 00:26:02.759 credentials, wasn't smooth. Sidney Drell, who 00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:05.579 had recruited her, attempted repeatedly to secure 00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:08.420 her a permanent professorship, but no department, 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:10.940 either physics or policy, would appoint her. 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:18.190 That is shocking. only person to sit on the Challenger 00:26:18.190 --> 00:26:20.769 Commission, a presidential advisor, and she was 00:26:20.769 --> 00:26:22.869 denied a professorship to the point where her 00:26:22.869 --> 00:26:25.150 recruiter quit in protest. What were the sources 00:26:25.150 --> 00:26:27.450 suggesting was the underlying cause? Was this 00:26:27.450 --> 00:26:30.049 lingering prejudice against a female pioneer? 00:26:30.309 --> 00:26:33.250 Or was it institutional resistance to her hybrid 00:26:33.250 --> 00:26:35.990 focus, which wasn't pure physics? It seems to 00:26:35.990 --> 00:26:38.450 have been a combination of factors, primarily 00:26:38.450 --> 00:26:41.410 institutional resistance to her policy focus. 00:26:42.500 --> 00:26:45.480 Academia, especially in hard sciences, often 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:47.900 struggles to categorize and reward individuals 00:26:47.900 --> 00:26:50.759 whose work bridges deep theory and high -level 00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:53.740 applied policy. They viewed her as either too 00:26:53.740 --> 00:26:57.039 much a policy person or not active enough in 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:00.279 pure physics. Drill's protest resignation just 00:27:00.279 --> 00:27:02.759 speaks volumes about the level of institutional 00:27:02.759 --> 00:27:05.480 denial she faced even after breaking so many 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:07.819 barriers. Regardless of the institutional slight, 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:10.680 she soon found a long -term academic and leadership 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:14.220 home. In July 1989, she became a professor of 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:16.059 physics at the University of California, San 00:27:16.059 --> 00:27:19.200 Diego, UCSD, and director of the California Space 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:22.140 Institute, Calspace, at the Scripps Institution 00:27:22.140 --> 00:27:24.579 of Oceanography. This was a substantial leadership 00:27:24.579 --> 00:27:26.920 role. She was paid a solid professor's salary 00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:29.579 plus a significant stipend overseeing a large 00:27:29.579 --> 00:27:32.200 budget and 28 full and part -time staff. And 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.380 she successfully shifted her research focus entirely, 00:27:34.599 --> 00:27:37.180 moving away from spaceflight applications. Her 00:27:37.180 --> 00:27:39.059 research during this period focused on highly 00:27:39.059 --> 00:27:42.200 specialized areas like nonlinear optics and Thomson 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:44.359 scattering. Which is what exactly? It's highly 00:27:44.359 --> 00:27:46.740 specific research, essentially exploring how 00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:49.240 light interacts with matter at an atomic level. 00:27:49.420 --> 00:27:52.180 So moving her focus entirely away from space 00:27:52.180 --> 00:27:54.500 vehicles and toward pure fundamental physics. 00:27:54.569 --> 00:27:57.289 It shows her absolute commitment to the intellectual 00:27:57.289 --> 00:28:00.150 core of her training. And the institutional trust 00:28:00.150 --> 00:28:02.549 in her integrity continued long after her flying 00:28:02.549 --> 00:28:05.529 days. She remained director of Calspace until 00:28:05.529 --> 00:28:09.309 1996 and officially retired from UCSD in 2007. 00:28:09.690 --> 00:28:12.069 But she was called back to service during another 00:28:12.069 --> 00:28:15.069 national tragedy. In 2003, she was asked to serve 00:28:15.069 --> 00:28:17.069 on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. 00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:19.839 This made her the only person in history to serve 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:22.039 on the investigating panels for both the Challenger 00:28:22.039 --> 00:28:24.779 and Columbia disasters. She truly was the go 00:28:24.779 --> 00:28:27.220 to expert for post tragedy analysis and integrity. 00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:29.859 The person Washington and NASA knew they could 00:28:29.859 --> 00:28:32.500 trust for an unvarnished assessment. And despite 00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:34.720 her immense credibility and proven ability to 00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:36.900 speak truth to power, she consistently turned 00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:40.279 down offers to lead the agency itself. Both President 00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:42.900 Bill Clinton and later, Lori Garver, on behalf 00:28:42.900 --> 00:28:45.359 of President Barack Obama, offered her the position 00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:48.180 of NASA administrator. But she preferred to stay 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:50.960 in California and focus on advisory and educational 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:54.640 work. She served on PCST, that's the President's 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:56.700 Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology, 00:28:56.940 --> 00:28:59.640 and the Review of United States Human Spaceflight 00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:02.900 Plans Committee. She kept advising at the highest, 00:29:03.000 --> 00:29:05.859 most influential levels, but always avoided the 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:08.599 political top job. A reflection probably of her 00:29:08.599 --> 00:29:11.119 distaste for the bureaucracy she had seen compromise 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:13.839 safety. It's clear that after stepping away from 00:29:13.839 --> 00:29:16.160 the operational and political intensity of Washington, 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.759 her true lasting passion centered on making sure 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.140 the next generation, especially young girls, 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:25.519 saw STEM careers as viable, attainable paths. 00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:28.140 This commitment was evident in her work with 00:29:28.140 --> 00:29:31.059 NASA outreach programs starting in the mid -1990s. 00:29:31.099 --> 00:29:34.299 She spearheaded major initiatives like the ISS 00:29:34.299 --> 00:29:37.400 EarthCam and GRAIL MoonCam projects. These were 00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:39.579 brilliant public engagement tools. They were 00:29:39.579 --> 00:29:41.720 designed specifically to allow upper elementary 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:43.920 and middle school students to request actual, 00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:46.380 high -resolution images of Earth from the International 00:29:46.380 --> 00:29:48.779 Space Station and images of the Moon from the 00:29:48.779 --> 00:29:51.109 GRAIL satellites. And this wasn't just passive 00:29:51.109 --> 00:29:54.289 observation. It put the power of scientific research 00:29:54.289 --> 00:29:56.950 directly into the hands of students. It gave 00:29:56.950 --> 00:29:58.710 them a tangible connection to space science. 00:29:58.950 --> 00:30:01.769 They were requesting the images, analyzing the 00:30:01.769 --> 00:30:04.490 data, and using the same tools actual scientists 00:30:04.490 --> 00:30:08.769 use. It provides a truly active aha moment. She 00:30:08.769 --> 00:30:10.930 also jumped into publishing early, recognizing 00:30:10.930 --> 00:30:12.809 the need for relatable science communication. 00:30:13.309 --> 00:30:16.170 She co -wrote the children's book, To Space and 00:30:16.170 --> 00:30:19.099 Back, with her high school friend, Sue Oki. in 00:30:19.099 --> 00:30:21.980 1986, right after the Challenger disaster. And 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:24.220 after a brief stint as president of the space 00:30:24.220 --> 00:30:26.799 news website Space .com around the turn of the 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:29.200 millennium, she decided to found her own institution. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:32.500 She co -founded Sally Ride Science with Tama 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:35.019 Shaughnessy. This company was dedicated to creating 00:30:35.019 --> 00:30:37.279 high -quality, entertaining science programs 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:40.059 and publications specifically focused on upper 00:30:40.059 --> 00:30:42.059 elementary and middle school students. And the 00:30:42.059 --> 00:30:44.720 explicit targeted emphasis was on encouraging 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:47.559 girls and minority students in STEM, filling 00:30:47.559 --> 00:30:49.640 a gap that she had personally experienced in 00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:51.960 her own career. She and O'Shaughnessy co -wrote 00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:54.960 six books on space aimed at children, with accessible 00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:57.839 titles like The Mystery of Mars and Mission Planet 00:30:57.839 --> 00:31:00.539 Earth. This was more than a side hustle. It was 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:02.980 the foundation of her post -NASA life. mission. 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:06.220 And this educational work was driven by a powerful 00:31:06.220 --> 00:31:08.960 personal philosophy, which she articulated clearly 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:11.619 in her famous quote. Everywhere I go, I meet 00:31:11.619 --> 00:31:13.759 girls and boys who want to be astronauts and 00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:16.660 explore space. I want to see those same stars 00:31:16.660 --> 00:31:19.200 in their eyes in 10 years and know they are on 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:21.480 their way. It just underscores her commitment, 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:24.799 not just to inspiration, but to sustained follow 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:27.160 through. And now we come to the intimate part 00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:29.799 of her life. a chapter that was kept profoundly 00:31:29.799 --> 00:31:32.099 private throughout her decades of public service, 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:34.980 only to be revealed after her death, fundamentally 00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:37.819 reshaping her identity in the history books and 00:31:37.819 --> 00:31:40.579 the public consciousness. During her post -NASA 00:31:40.579 --> 00:31:42.759 years, especially after her divorce from Stephen 00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:45.220 Hawley, her relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy 00:31:45.220 --> 00:31:48.279 solidified. O'Shaughnessy moved in with Ride 00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:50.539 in La Jolla, California. They were partners for 00:31:50.539 --> 00:31:54.599 27 years, spanning from 1985 until Ride's death 00:31:54.599 --> 00:31:57.980 in 2012. This was a long -term, committed partnership 00:31:57.980 --> 00:32:00.319 that was maintained in absolute privacy during 00:32:00.319 --> 00:32:03.160 her most public years. The sources confirm they 00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:05.200 took a formal step by registering their domestic 00:32:05.200 --> 00:32:08.579 partnership in California on August 15, 2011, 00:32:08.940 --> 00:32:12.319 just one year before Ride passed away from pancreatic 00:32:12.319 --> 00:32:15.309 cancer at the age of 61. And her obituary, which 00:32:15.309 --> 00:32:17.309 was released shortly after her death on July 00:32:17.309 --> 00:32:20.410 23, 2012, was the vehicle for this public revelation. 00:32:20.670 --> 00:32:23.569 It publicly named Tam O'Shaughnessy as her surviving 00:32:23.569 --> 00:32:26.950 partner. This singular act made Sally Ride the 00:32:26.950 --> 00:32:30.190 first known LGBTQ astronaut. The context here 00:32:30.190 --> 00:32:33.430 is key. Her sister, Karen Baer, confirmed that 00:32:33.430 --> 00:32:35.230 Ride made a deliberate choice to keep both her 00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:37.210 private life and her illness and treatments hidden 00:32:37.210 --> 00:32:39.809 from the public eye. This wasn't accidental privacy. 00:32:39.849 --> 00:32:41.609 It was a calculated necessity of her career. 00:32:41.950 --> 00:32:44.329 This context truly underscores the immense pressure 00:32:44.329 --> 00:32:47.690 placed upon pioneers in the 1980s and 90s, especially 00:32:47.690 --> 00:32:51.230 women entering historically male fields. The 00:32:51.230 --> 00:32:54.029 public demanded symbols of clean, normative American 00:32:54.029 --> 00:32:56.849 progress, and Ride realized that revealing her 00:32:56.849 --> 00:32:58.990 full identity could have jeopardized her professional 00:32:58.990 --> 00:33:01.930 standing or worse, distracted from the mission 00:33:01.930 --> 00:33:04.990 itself. Her privacy was a means of survival in 00:33:04.990 --> 00:33:08.039 a hostile public spotlight. But despite her desire 00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:11.019 for privacy in life, her identity is now a crucial, 00:33:11.200 --> 00:33:14.099 visible part of her enduring legacy, recognized 00:33:14.099 --> 00:33:16.779 powerfully through posthumous honors. The honors 00:33:16.779 --> 00:33:19.079 were immense, reflecting the depth of her service. 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:21.359 She was posthumously awarded the Presidential 00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:24.059 Medal of Freedom in 2013, the highest civilian 00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:26.259 award in the U .S., which was accepted by Tam 00:33:26.259 --> 00:33:28.559 O'Shaughnessy, a very public recognition of their 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:30.519 relationship by the highest office. She also 00:33:30.519 --> 00:33:32.980 received major space honors that literally write 00:33:32.980 --> 00:33:35.950 her name into the cosmos. The impact site of 00:33:35.950 --> 00:33:37.950 the G -Rail lunar mission was named in her honor 00:33:37.950 --> 00:33:41.970 in 2012. In 2022, the Cygnus spacecraft for the 00:33:41.970 --> 00:33:45.049 NG -18 mission was named the SS Sally Ride. And 00:33:45.049 --> 00:33:47.930 shifting from space to the seas, the RV Sally 00:33:47.930 --> 00:33:50.529 Ride, a naval research ship, was named after 00:33:50.529 --> 00:33:53.049 her, becoming the first vessel in the research 00:33:53.049 --> 00:33:55.809 fleet named after a female scientist. O'Shaughnessy 00:33:55.809 --> 00:33:58.670 christened the ship in 2014. These honors consistently 00:33:58.670 --> 00:34:01.369 integrate her full identity, with O'Shaughnessy 00:34:01.369 --> 00:34:03.950 playing a public, central role. Her cultural 00:34:03.950 --> 00:34:06.809 impact is just undeniable. It transcends governmental 00:34:06.809 --> 00:34:09.949 honors and moves into educational toys and memorabilia. 00:34:10.110 --> 00:34:12.230 She was inducted into the National Women's Hall 00:34:12.230 --> 00:34:15.429 of Fame in 1988 and the Astronaut Hall of Fame. 00:34:15.530 --> 00:34:17.590 In pop culture, she was featured in the Women 00:34:17.590 --> 00:34:21.110 of NASA Lego set in 2017, celebrated with a Mattel 00:34:21.110 --> 00:34:23.349 Barbie doll in the Inspiring Women series in 00:34:23.349 --> 00:34:26.769 2019, and honored on a U .S. first -class postage 00:34:26.769 --> 00:34:29.400 stamp in 2018. But perhaps the most enduring 00:34:29.400 --> 00:34:31.880 and publicly visible recognition came in March 00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:34.800 2022. She was honored as one of the first two 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:36.699 honorees of the American Women Quarter Series, 00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:40.139 making her the first known LGBTQ person to appear 00:34:40.139 --> 00:34:43.059 on U .S. currency. It's a stunning full circle 00:34:43.059 --> 00:34:45.880 moment for a person who sacrificed public visibility 00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:48.900 for professional pioneering. Her life ultimately 00:34:48.900 --> 00:34:51.840 shows us that a singular groundbreaking achievement, 00:34:52.139 --> 00:34:55.079 being the first woman in space, was merely the 00:34:55.079 --> 00:34:57.820 launching pad for a decades -long career defined 00:34:57.820 --> 00:35:01.679 by technical rigor, crisis integrity, and a profound 00:35:01.679 --> 00:35:04.179 personal commitment to changing the world through 00:35:04.179 --> 00:35:06.159 education. So what we've learned today really 00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:08.519 crystallizes that Sally Ride was fundamentally 00:35:08.519 --> 00:35:11.380 much more than a historical footnote. She was 00:35:11.380 --> 00:35:14.400 a highly technical physicist, a pioneer in operating 00:35:14.400 --> 00:35:17.059 the robotic arm, and an indispensable government 00:35:17.059 --> 00:35:19.960 advisor who leveraged her credibility to maintain 00:35:19.960 --> 00:35:22.900 integrity during moments of national crisis like 00:35:22.900 --> 00:35:25.400 the Challenger and Columbia disasters. Let's 00:35:25.400 --> 00:35:27.420 distill the three crucial takeaways that define 00:35:27.420 --> 00:35:30.219 her legacy beyond the first title. First, the 00:35:30.219 --> 00:35:32.159 synergy between her elite athletic discipline 00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:34.500 and her rigorous theoretical physics training 00:35:34.500 --> 00:35:37.900 created a rare astronaut profile, a woman who 00:35:37.900 --> 00:35:40.110 handled both the intense physical scrutiny. and 00:35:40.110 --> 00:35:41.650 the highest technical demands of the shuttle 00:35:41.650 --> 00:35:44.829 program with just unmatched poise. Second, her 00:35:44.829 --> 00:35:47.170 willingness to blow the whistle discreetly during 00:35:47.170 --> 00:35:49.469 the Rogers Commission, providing that critical 00:35:49.469 --> 00:35:51.469 O -ring information while protecting herself 00:35:51.469 --> 00:35:54.369 through Richard Feynman, that demonstrates immense 00:35:54.369 --> 00:35:57.429 professional integrity in the face of deep institutional 00:35:57.429 --> 00:36:00.610 and political pressure. She prioritized truth 00:36:00.610 --> 00:36:03.849 and safety over her own career comfort. And third, 00:36:04.380 --> 00:36:06.820 Her unwavering commitment to STEM education through 00:36:06.820 --> 00:36:09.440 Sally Ride Science ensured that her mission extended 00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:12.420 far past her time in orbit. She was focused on 00:36:12.420 --> 00:36:14.460 building a pipeline for the next generation of 00:36:14.460 --> 00:36:17.440 diverse scientific leaders. She inspired, and 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:19.119 then she built the infrastructure to support 00:36:19.119 --> 00:36:21.760 that inspiration. Her life forces us to reflect 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:24.199 on the immense personal toll required to be a 00:36:24.199 --> 00:36:27.630 pioneer. We noted the documentary context. During 00:36:27.630 --> 00:36:29.510 that era, people didn't like women in space, 00:36:29.650 --> 00:36:31.510 and they especially didn't like single women 00:36:31.510 --> 00:36:34.929 in space. Sally Ride's calculated privacy, the 00:36:34.929 --> 00:36:37.230 decision to hide her 27 -year relationship with 00:36:37.230 --> 00:36:39.650 Tam O'Shaughnessy, was clearly a necessary strategy 00:36:39.650 --> 00:36:42.449 for her to achieve and maintain her success in 00:36:42.449 --> 00:36:45.110 a hostile public arena. Her ability to hold two 00:36:45.110 --> 00:36:47.570 worlds separate, the highly public symbol of 00:36:47.570 --> 00:36:50.309 progress and the intensely private reality of 00:36:50.309 --> 00:36:52.929 her life, it speaks volumes about the pressures 00:36:52.929 --> 00:36:55.730 she bore alone. The choice was not about preference. 00:36:56.300 --> 00:36:58.679 but professional survival. So we'll leave you 00:36:58.679 --> 00:37:00.460 with this final provocative thought to mull over. 00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:03.920 Given the immense personal sacrifice often required 00:37:03.920 --> 00:37:06.059 for pioneers to break such profound barriers, 00:37:06.340 --> 00:37:09.239 what price do we collectively pay as a society 00:37:09.239 --> 00:37:11.900 when those figures feel they must hide fundamental 00:37:11.900 --> 00:37:14.219 parts of their identity just to ensure their 00:37:14.219 --> 00:37:16.679 professional success and safety? It's a profound 00:37:16.679 --> 00:37:19.139 question that shapes not only Sally Ride's enduring 00:37:19.139 --> 00:37:22.059 legacy, but the paths of every groundbreaking 00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:24.940 figure who follows. It reminds us that the fight 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:27.679 for acceptance often continues long after the 00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:30.320 glass ceiling has been shattered. A truly incredible 00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:33.300 deep dive into a life defined by courage, intellect, 00:37:33.619 --> 00:37:36.099 and profound discretion. Thank you for diving 00:37:36.099 --> 00:37:36.719 deep with us.