The first American woman in space in 1983, whom although was everywhere, once upon a time, we actually knew very little about as she was a very private person.
I had read about this documentary which dropped on Hulu yesterday, and I wasn't disappointed.
In fact, my husband, who thought he'd heard every story the astronauts had to tell, really enjoyed it and was glad I put it on, because it gave a new perspective, a new take on the space story.
I wish those from a younger generation could realize how big of a deal it was when Sally Ride became that first American woman in space aboard the STS-7 Challenger in June of 1983.
"Mustang Sally" was playing everywhere, people wore "Ride, Sally, Ride" T-shirts - she was like a rock star to us.
I can't believe it took almost 20 years after a Russian woman went to space for us to do it, too, but we finally did.
When NASA finally opened up the astronaut program to women and other races, if it were today, one might say Sally was a DEI hire, as many even did at the time - apparently not knowing that she had to endure the same grueling tests the men did and pass,
If you cried, got mad, hyperventilated, panicked, or vomited, you were OUT - male OR female.
You also had to be in shape/athletic and cool under pressure, thinking your way out of tough situations, as well as athletic/physically fit to adjust quickly to pressure changes and muscle movement in 0 gravity.
Which means acceptance into the program was already competitive, but then you had to prove you had the right stuff - and that NASA astronaut class of 1978 now included 6 women, as well as men of color - certainly did.
(Sally Ride is 2nd from left, Judy Reznick is on the right at the end.)
And when it came down to who would be the first woman, it was between Sally Ride and Judy Reznick (who later died in the Challenger explosion), both being especially cool under pressure - Sally was chosen because even although she also had a sense of humor, Judy was a bit more jokey and bubbly than Sally, and they wanted someone with a bit more reserve in personality for that first mission.
Her story is told posthumously by friends, family, and most importantly, by her partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessey.
There are very few pictures of them together, as Sally was very paranoid about it. Forget holding hands or hugging, they couldn't even stand close to each other for major life events 😢
That is until 10 days before Sally Ride died from pancreatic cancer in 2012, she finally gave Tam permission to reveal to the world the secret she had hidden from the public for 27 years that - yes, Sally Ride was gay - and that Tam had been her partner since 1985.
But if you're expecting some sappy, overly dramatic story - don't.
Sally wouldn't have liked that - she would've liked just the facts, but also an interesting story.
Because Dr. Sally Ride had that rare combination - for both men AND women - of being gifted in both her left and right brain, with degrees in both Physics and English from Stanford.
She also never talked about feelings, it just wasn't done in her family - not even revealing to her gay and out sister that she was gay (though Bear knew it).
However, she was also encouraged to be whatever she wanted to be, regardless of social norms.
She was afraid of nothing and no one - EXCEPT - people finding out she was gay - of which she was absolutely terrified.
In fact, the only time she admitted to being afraid of anything in her life was when she was asked if she was nervous the night before the mission.
She admitted she was because things could go wrong (and as we know, later did with Challenger in 1986), and her fellow male astronaut told her that he was nervous, too and said "If you're not at least a little afraid, then you don't know what you're in for, and you should."
Also, if you're expecting a "Sally was perfect" documentary - don't - she had flaws just like everyone else.
For example, wanting to be the 1st woman in space, she apparently sabotaged another female astronauts robot-arm operation test by shutting off the breakers.
Not such a flattering moment for Sally.
Women, again - let's just be happy that there's first woman at something -whether it's you or not?
Enough with the passive-aggressive sabotage stuff, it contributes to our bad reputation, which is difficult to overcome already.
She also famously handed back flowers from a fan after her mission without explaining that it was because the men didn't get flowers like that, instead of just accepting the fan gift graciously.
When asked if the men gave her a hard time or were respectful, she answered the press was worse 😂
And then we watched a series of ridiculous questions being asked of her by the press, back then, like:
"What do you do when something goes wrong - do you cry, break down?"
Sally laughed and turned to her colleague male astronaut and said "Why doesn't anybody ever ask YOU that question? But they could answer for me - no, I don't."
Or another press member, asking what's next after this mission, will she go on a shelf somewhere or start a family?
(The implication being that she didn't have the right stuff and that she was DEI fluff.)
Sally in fact flew 4 more missions for NASA until she resigned after the Challenger explosion!
(She resigned after being on the investigation panel and discovering that in their haste/excitement, nobody had double-checked the O rings, among other things, and she didn't feel it was currently safe to send anyone up again until they performed better equipment tests and checks.)
She handled the press with aplomb, though - she would give a very direct, curt answer, then smile after she said it.
For instance, when someone called her "Miss Ride," she said "So you can call me Dr. Ride or Sally, take your pick, but not Miss, okay?" and then warmly smiled.
Or when Jane Pauley - who was another personal hero of mine - unbelievably gaffed and said: "Maybe it's none of my business, but have you thought about having children someday?"
Sally said, "You're right, it's none of your business, but of course I have, as everyone does. But that's not what I'm here to talk about."
Oh, Jane - how I love thee, but you should know better yourself than to ask questions like that.
If we women don't stop putting women in boxes ourselves, we'll never get anywhere.
It's always a choice between brains and beauty, being a career woman or a mother, like nobody can be both.
As for whether or not those men gave her a hard time, just a few - and of course, NASA themselves was clueless.
When making personal-item kits for the astronauts - like shaving kits for the men, etc. - they actually made her a makeup kit for space. 😂
No, really.
Sally wasn't a huge makeup fan already, except when on camera, but who the hell would care about makeup in space?
And who cares what you look like to the men in space?
Worse, they asked her if 100 tampons would be enough for 7 days.
What the ???
Um ... exactly how much blood do you think we lose in a week IF we're even on our period then? 😂
And dang, we know there weren't women in those design departments then, but did they not have wives, mothers, or sisters to ask first?
You just know she wanted to say "Sure, 100 tampons for a 1-week mission. I'll use them to plug up the holes left by the heat panels if they fall off again, like the last mission, because you guys effed up." 😂
But she did NOT say that.
But you just know she wanted to.
The worst sexist pig among them, though, self-admittedly, was fellow astronaut, Mike Mullane.
He was a military vet who'd piloted missions in Vietnam and felt that women hadn't earned it without military experience.
(Well, had someone let women fly fighter jets for the military back then, maybe they would have? But they didn't then.)
But after her performance - and just before her death in 2012 - Mike wrote Sally a letter, apologizing for his prior behavior, commending her on just how well she did, as well as assuring her that he was encouraging his 4 granddaughters to be raised as Sally was - that they could do anything they wanted - because of Sally. 🙂
In typical Sally style, though, there are only 3 times you feel any emotion watching this other than pride and wonder.
1) Sally - with her partner, Tam, retelling the story - of what it was like viewing planet earth as an actual planet.
She told of being able to see Australian coral reefs and Himalayan mountains, yes - but most importantly, how she could see all of the countries and continents without borders, without the imaginary lines in the sand we've drawn - and it had a profound effect on her, going forward.
2) Sally's death and the private, hidden secret care Tam gave her.
3) When then-President Obama called Tam and asked her to accept the Medal of Freedom on behalf of Sally, posthumously.
