Sally Ride Quotes

United States, Physicist
May 26, 1951 – July, 23, 2012.

Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) was an American physicist and astronaut. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982). Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have traveled to space, having done so at the age of 32.

Also known as Astronaut, Astrophysicist

The fact that I was going to be the first American woman to go into space carried huge expectations along with it.

Sally Ride
- American
- Space
- Woman
On both of my flights, everything went very well.

Sally Ride
- Everything
- Very
- Well

One thing I probably share with everyone else in the astronaut office is composure.

Sally Ride
- Space
- Everyone
- Office
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.

Sally Ride
- Time
- Together
- Year
The view of Earth is spectacular.

Sally Ride
- Nature
- Earth
- View
I liked math - that was my favorite subject - and I was very interested in astronomy and in physical science.

Sally Ride
- Science
- Math
- Astronomy
You know, I go around the country a lot.

Sally Ride
- Country
- You
- Know
Then during the mission itself, I used the space shuttle's robot arm to release a satellite into orbit.

Sally Ride
- Space
- Mission
- Robot

On a standard space shuttle crew, two of the astronauts have a test pilot background - the commander and the pilot.

Sally Ride
- Space
- Two
- Test
It takes a few years to prepare for a space mission.

Sally Ride
- Space
- Mission
- Prepare
I didn't really decide that I wanted to be an astronaut for sure until the end of college.

Sally Ride
- College
- End
- Really
It's well known that many girls have a tendency to dumb down when they're in middle school.

Sally Ride
- School
- Down
- Dumb
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.

Sally Ride
- Practice
- Same
- NASA
Studying whether there's life on Mars or studying how the universe began, there's something magical about pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. That's something that is almost part of being human, and I'm certain that will continue.

Sally Ride
- Life
- Knowledge
- Universe

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.

Sally Ride
- Different
- Bad
- Food
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.

Sally Ride
- Men
- Women
- Me
When you're getting ready to launch into space, you're sitting on a big explosion waiting to happen.

Sally Ride
- You
- Space
- Waiting
I was always very interested in science, and I knew that for me, science was a better long-term career than tennis.

Sally Ride
- Long
- Career
- Science