“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
Sally Ride was someone who pushed back the frontiers to be one of the most inspiring women in the world.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- First American woman to travel to space (1978)
- At the age of 32 she became the youngest American astronaut to travel to space.
- Co-founded Sally Ride Science to inspire young girls and women to pursue science.
- Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the California Hall of Fame, the Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
- Twice awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal
- US research ship was named after her.
- Space Foundation honoured her with its highest honor, the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award.
- Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (Highest civilian honor of US)
ANECDOTES
- Sally Ride graduated in physics and was doing her research work at the Stanford where she came across a newspaper advertisement by NASA seeking for people for their astronaut program. Sally Ride was chosen the one among 8,000 applicants and became the first American woman to travel to space.
- Sally was questioned by media and a group of people on her ability to go to space; she being a woman was their greatest interest to talk about. She was questioned, “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?” For a person, taking up a challenge like that, people had to throw demoralizing questions and conclusions. For the above nonsense, Sally’s answer was this, “ I see myself in only one way—as an astronaut.”
- After her retirement from NASA, she became a physics professor and continued her contribution to Physics. She later co-founded an organization called ‘Sally Ride Science,’ an organization set up to inspire young girls and women to take up science and pursue education in the field of science and engineering.
- Sally died in her 60s due to pancreatic cancer. But her legacy continues and her organization serves as a great benefit for young girls. Sally Ride will always be remembered as a young woman who dared to be what she wanted to be.
Sally Ride Quotes
- “I think it’s important for little girls growing up, and young women, to have one in every walk of life. So from that point of view, I’m proud to be a role model!”
- “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.”
- “Science is fun. Science is curiosity. We all have natural curiosity. Science is a process of investigating. It’s posing questions and coming up with a method. It’s delving in.”
- “For whatever reason, I didn’t succumb to the stereotype that science wasn’t for girls. I got encouragement from my parents. I never ran into a teacher or a counselor who told me that science was for boys. A lot of my friends did.”
I saw the Google Doodle and, was reading about the great lady… :-) An informative post, dear, loved the quotes…they are really inspiring, especially the one on science… :-)
Thank you Maniparna. Though I had heard her name, I didn’t know the lady has so much associated to her. Google doodles are a great way to remind and educate us :)