by Lynn Sherr
CHAPTER 4: THIRTY-FIVE NEW GUYS
Reporting for Duty: Interviews with Hoot Gibson, Rick Hauck, Anna Fisher, Mike Coats, Bill Colson, Bill Powers, Carolyn Huntoon. SKR Oral History 1; “NASA Selects 35 Astronaut Candidates,” Release No. 78-03, January 16, 1978; Mullane, 29; Thomas O’Toole, “The New Spacemen—and Women,” Washington Post, January 17, 1978; Richard Richards, from whose JSC Oral History this is adapted, was actually in the astronaut class of 1980, but the problem was endemic; Norman Mailer, “Part II: The Psychology of Astronauts,” Life, November 14, 1969; Sherr, Outside the Box; Sanborn; salary information courtesy Duane Ross, NASA, JSC; Tyson notes; WSU; Donna Miskin, “Women and Minorities Star in the New Astronaut Class,” Washington Star, November 19, 1978; UC-Berkeley speech.
Flying: Interviews with Rick Hauck, Jon McBride, Steve Hawley, John Fabian, Norm Thagard, Anna Fisher, Rhea Seddon; Kathryn Sullivan. PBS; KU; Tyson notes; SKR to author in interview for ABC News, 1983; Bailey Morris, “Woman Astronaut Prepares for Space,” Washington Star, June 22, 1979; SKR personal papers; Laytner; Time, August 14, 1978; Peter Gwynne with Holly Morris, “Sextet for Space,” Newsweek, August 14, 1978.
The Women: Interviews with Kathryn Sullivan, Carolyn Huntoon, Rhea Seddon, Anna Fisher, Margaret Weitekamp, Bill Colson, Andrew Chaikin, Joe Allen, Ellen Baker. Nicholas C. Chriss, Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1978; Mullane, 29; Kathryn Sullivan JSC Oral History; Carpenter to National Women’s Conference, November 19, 1977; “Not Such a Long Way, Baby,” Washington Post, August 4, 1969; Tyson, notes; Terry McGuire in Susan Witty, “Our First Women in Space,” Geo, September 1982; SKR Oral History; Gabriel H. Gluck, “Space Pioneer Urges Girls to Reach for the Stars,” Newark Star-Ledger, May 5, 2002; Academy of Achievement; Andrew Chaikin, “Science & Technology: Women’s Specialty: the real-Life Sciences,” Working Woman. November–December 1996; SKR to Chaikin, August 22, 1996, courtesy Chaikin; Jerry L. Ross, Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA’s Record-Setting Frequent Flyer (West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 2013), 103; Henry Hartsfield at Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, April 3, 1986.
Flying the Arm: Interviews with George Abbey, Jim Middleton, Bob Crippen, John Fabian, Bill Colson, Bob Rose;. SKR Oral History; SKR personal papers; Sanborn; WSU; Rhea Seddon Oral History.
Happy Hours, Happy Days: Interviews with Steve Hawley, Rick Hauck, Bill Colson, Molly Tyson, Marsha Ivins, Ellen Baker, Steve Riley, Hoot Gibson. Tyson notes; Cernan to LS on ABC News, August 30, 1983; SKR audio reflections,1983; Okie “Fame Finds …”; Santy, xv; Bob Ward, The Light Stuff: Space Humor—from Sputnik to Shuttle (Huntsville, Ala.: Jester Books, 1982), 80; Sanborn.
Steve: Interviews with Steve Hawley, Billie Jean King; Lifetime.
Back in Space: Interview with Mike Coats. SKR to LS, 1981; Crippen to LS, March 1981.
CapCom: Interviews with Richard Truly. SKR to LS, 1983; SKR to Columbia crew, STS-2 mission, November 12–13, 1981; SKR to Al Dale for ABC News, 1980.
CHAPTER 5: FIRST
Get Ready … : Interviews with George Abbey, Bob Crippen, Richard Truly, Hoot Gibson, Steve Hawley, Rhea Seddon, Kathryn Sullivan, Carolyn Huntoon. SKR to author, 1983; Frederic Golden, Guy Bluford, “Sally’s Joy Ride into the Sky.” Time, June 13, 1983; Abbey to author for ABC News, 1983; Ride, “Ninth Amendment”; Okie, “Cool Hand …”; Lifetime; SKR Oral History; Norman Mailer, Of a Fire on the Moon (New York: Little Brown, 1970), 44; Hauck to author for ABC News, 1981; Bob Crippen Oral History; Prime Crew press conference, April 29, 1982; Schlafly cartoon by Judge, 1982, © Field Syndicate; Tyson, notes.
… Get set … : Interviews with Norm Thagard, Bob Crippen, Rick Hauck, John Fabian, Susan Okie, Frank Hughes. Texas Monthly Talks; Sanborn; SKR to Brokaw, NBC News, 1983.
Time Out: Interviews with Steve Hawley, Bear Ride, Joyce Ride, Susan Okie, George Abbey, Carolyn Huntoon. Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1982; Bryan (Ohio) Times, August 24, 1982; New York Times, August 15, 1982; Paul Sweeney, “Sally Ride—‘Super Woman,’ ” Boston Globe, May 29, 1983; Okie, “At Home …”; Hawley on Today, January 16, 1985, videotape courtesy Maureen Fitzgerald, David Corvo; Temkin; SKR on Today, January 16, 1985; Wiscombe; C-SPAN Video Library, US Senate session, June 2, 1986; Paul Recer, “Sally Ride’s Space Flight Is ‘Natural Progression,’ ” AP, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 12, 1983.
Anatomy Lessons: Interviews with George Abbey, Bob Crippen, Ellen Baker, Anna Fisher, Mary Cleave, Rhea Seddon, Kathryn Sullivan, Carolyn Huntoon. Seddon Oral History; Kevles, 12; Sullivan Oral History; Dr. Edgar Berman, 1970, to Rep. Patsy Mink, Democratic Party’s Committee on National Priorities; Tyson notes; SKR Oral History; “3 Russians on Soyuz Return After 8 Days in Space,” New York Times, August 8, 1992.
The Press, the Pressure: Interviews with Bob Crippen, Rick Hauck, Steve Hawley. Sanborn; Preflight press conference, May 24, 1983; Olive Talley, “Women Ready for Last Frontier,” United Press International, in Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1983; Life to NASA April 1 and April 4, 1983; William H. Gregory, “Promoting the Shuttle” (editorial), Aviation Week & Space Technology, June 20, 1983; SKR to Brokaw, NBC News, 1983; Kathleen Hendrix, “Astronaut Sally Ride: The Sky May Not Be Her Limit,” Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1982; Steinem; SKR to author, 1983; Temkin; Ninth Amendment; Carson on The Tonight Show, May 13, 1983; Miss Piggy to SKR, June 17, 1983; Miss Baker to SKR, June 1983.
KSC: Interviews with Ellen Baker, Bear Ride, Molly Tyson, George Abbey, Carolyn Huntoon, Anna Fisher. Ninth Amendment; SKR personal papers; SKR to Colson, October 1982; Tyson womenSports; SKR audio reflections, 1983.
Go!: Interviews with Rick Hauck, John Fabian, Norm Thagard, Bob Crippen, Hugh Harris, Lifetime; JPL; Kevin Panik; “Ninth Amendment”; SKR audio reflections, 1983; SKR Oral History; “For Ride’s Family, a Day to Be Proud,” AP story in Boston Globe, June 19, 1983; “Shuttle-Crazy Crowd Cries, ‘Ride, Sally Ride,’ ” New York Times, June 18, 1983; size of crowd courtesy Hugh Harris via Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Sally’s Ride: Interviews with John Fabian, Bob Crippen, Rick Hauck, Norm Thagard, Steve Hawley, Andrew Chaikin, SKR audio reflections 1983; SKR personal papers; SKR Oral History. In a number of interviews, including her JSC Oral History, Sally said that during ascent, she forced herself to call out, “Roll Program.” In fact, it was Crippen who called out “Roll Program” (it was always the commander’s job); Sally, like all flight engineers, actually called out “LVLH,” as reported here. She confirms that in her audio reflections. I speculate that she changed the facts when talking to the public to avoid having to explain LVLH, a complicated setting that was critical to maintaining the Shuttle’s proper attitude. It wasn’t the first, and wouldn’t be the last time Sally fudged the facts in the interest, most likely, of avoiding confusion; Fabian Oral History; UC-Berkeley speech; Ride, “Single Room …”; JPL; Ride, Mission Planet … ; Academy of Achievement; Jeff Gill, The Gainesville (Florida) Times, November 18, 2005; “Ninth Amendment.”
Homeward Bound: Interviews with Mary Cleave, Joyce Ride, Bear Ride, John Fabian. Lovell to Mike Collins, July 24, 1969.
CHAPTER 6: REENTRY
Welcome Home!: Interviews with Steve Hawley, Todd Halvorson, Ellen Baker, Kathryn Sullivan. Mailer, Life, 45; SKR Oral History; Halvorson 2008; “No White Roses for a Crew Lady,” AP story in Washington Post, June 26, 1983; “Ninth Amendment”; Sullivan Oral History.
On the Road: Interviews with John Fabian, Norm Thagard, Steve Hawley, Bob Crippen, Deborah Schneider Harrington, Francis French, Susan Okie, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Carolyn Huntoon. The (Myrtle Beach) Sun-News, August 14, 1983; John Balzar, “Capitol Goes into Orbit for ‘Sally Ride Day,’ ” Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1983; SKR to Scott Zachek, STARLOG, August 1985; Washington Post, July 13, 1983; Fabian Oral History; Barbara Gamarekian, “500 at NASA Museum Honor the Challenger Crew,” New York Times, July 20, 1983; Steinem; Elizabeth Bumiller, “Sally Ride and the Bahrain Shuttle; Three Lives on the Day of a State Dinner,” Washington Post, Ju
ly 20, 1983; Joseph Trento and Susan B. Trento, “Why Challenger Was Doomed,” Los Angeles Times, January 18, 1987; Tim O’Brien, “NASA Official Fights Ouster,” Washington Post, October 29, 1973; John Noble Wilford, “Jane Fonda Chides the White House,” New York Times, October 18, 1983; SKR personal papers; Report of the Special Subcommittee, 1962; Kathryn Holub, “Now She Shuttles Between Speeches,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 22, 1983; Judith Gaines, “In this Corner: Sally Ride’s Next Orbit,” The Boston Globe, June 30, 1983; song with 1983 lyrics courtesy Sally Ride Elementary, Woodlands, Texas.
Thanks for the Memories: Interviews with Gerry Griffin, Bob Crippen, Steve Hawley, Molly Tyson, Rain Burns, Bill Colson. SKR personal papers.
Intrigue in Budapest: Interviews with Rick Hauck, Steve Hawley, Tamas Gombosi, Dr. Harry Atkinson in London Times, August 6, 2012; SKR audio reflections, 1983; Hauck Oral History.
Inspiration: Interview with Barbara Barrett. SKR to author, 2008; Bruce Newman, “Being First: The Pride and Pressure of Breaking Barriers,” San Jose Mercury News, October 9, 2008; Ellen Goodman, “The Future of a ‘First Woman,’ ” Washington Post, June 25, 1983. © 1983 The Boston Globe Newspaper Company; “Ninth Amendment”; Ferraro to SKR June 22, 1984; Ferraro at Democratic National Convention, July 19, 1984; Omni magazine poll, November 1984; Ferraro, with Linda Bird Francke, My Story (New York: Bantam Books, 1985), 293.
Back to Work: Interviews with Steve Hawley, Bob Crippen, Dave Leestma, Kathryn Sullivan, Jon McBride, Rhea Seddon, Dave Hilmers. USA Today, July 31, 1984; Air-to-ground communication during mission, April 1985; Cooper, 209; “Ferraro, Ride: Women Still Face Career Barriers,” Orlando Sentinel, June 29, 1985.
CHAPTER 7: EXPLOSIONS
Tam: Interviews with Tam O’Shaughnessy, Lindsey Beaven, Kay Loveland, Steve Hawley. Gerald Martin, Gabriel García Márquez: A Life (New York: Random House, 2009), 199; Bud Collins posting on his Facebook page, July 2012.
Victory Laps: Interviews with Steve Hawley. SKR to crew of STS-61B, November 1985; Steinem to SKR August 26, 1983 from SKR personal papers; “Sally Ride Opposed to ‘Star Wars’ Plan,” UPI story in Reading Eagle, January 15, 1985; author application for Journalist-in-Space program.
Challenger: Lifetime; SKR Oral History; Texas Monthly Talks.
The Rogers Commission: Interviews with Don Kutyna, Craig Covault, Allan McDonald, Tam O’Shaughnessy. SKR personal papers; Hearings of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, February 11, 1986; SKR to Chaikin, August 22, 1996; Hearings, February 14, 1986; SKR to author for ABC News, March 6, 1986; Hearings, February 14, 1986; in Allan McDonald’s book (McDonald, Allan J., with James R. Hansen, Truth, Lies, and O-Rings: Inside the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster [Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 2009], 187), he adds that Sally said, “God, that took a lot of guts”; Hauck to author, 1988; SKR Oral History; SKR to Chaikin.
Split: Interviews with Steve Hawley.
CHAPTER 8: NEW TERRITORY
NASA Headquarters: Interviews with Alan Ladwig, Carolyn Huntoon, John Niehoff, Dixon Butler, Al Diaz, James Garvin, Brian Muirhead, Susan Okie. SKR Oral History; Sherr, “A Mission …”; SKR personal papers; Publisher’s Weekly; Denise Kalette, “Rare Visit with Sally Ride,” USA Today, October 24, 1986; Today Show, NBC, October 14, 1986; SKR to UC-Irvine, October 3, 1986.
DCA-ATL-DCA: Interviews with Tam O’Shaughnessy.
The Ride Report: Interviews with Alan Ladwig, Terri Niehoff, Al Diaz, Dixon Butler, Al Gore, Barbara Mikulski, Craig Covault. Ride, Leadership … ; Craig Covault, “Ride Panel Calls for Aggressive Action to Assert US Leadership in Space,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, August 24, 1987.
Done: Interviews with Alan Ladwig, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Steve Hawley. “Our Future in Space,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1987; Michael Specter, “Astronaut Sally Ride to Leave NASA,” Washington Post, May 27, 1987; NASA News Release no. 87–84, May 26, 1987, 2:00 p.m., “Astronaut Ride Will Leave NASA for Stanford University.”
CHAPTER 9: DOWN TO EARTH
Arms and the Woman: Interviews with Sid Drell, Condoleezza Rice, George Lewis, John Townsend, Rodger Payne. SKR to Kyra Phillips, CNN, 2008; Voss; “Ex-Astronaut Sally Ride Shuns the Hoopla—and the Money,” unsigned wire story from NASA HQ file, September 14, 1987; Diane Lederman, “Astronaut Hails Pioneer Spirit,” Holyoke Transcript-Telegram, January 15, 1985; presentation of October 20, 1987, posted on Duck of Minerva site, and quoted courtesy Rodger Payne; Dawn Levy, “Sally Ride Speaks on the Tactical Role of Space and War,” Stanford Report. April 17, 2003; Peter M. Banks and Ride, Sally K., “Soviets in Space,” Scientific American 260(2), February 1989.
University of California, San Diego: Interviews with Tam O’Shaughnessy, Bear Ride, Joyce Ride, Steve Hawley, Kay Loveland, Billie Jean King, Grenn Nemhauser, Lindsey Beaven, Terry McEntee. Patrick McDonnell, “Astronaut Ride to Pursue Dual Interests at UCSD,” Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1989; Kathy Sawyer, “Former Astronauts Flying High in New Jobs,” Washington Post, June 17, 1989; Lee Dembart, “Being Female Is Not Significant, Astronaut Says,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1983. Sally certainly meant what she said to Dembart but might have quarreled with the unintended implications of the headline; SKR on Today Show, May 12, 1983.
Professor: Interviews with Richard Somerville, Terry McEtee, Karen Flammer, Lauren Martin, Bear Ride, Joanna Rice, Mike Baine. Halvorson; SKR personal papers; CAPE reviews courtesy Martha Carbajal, CAPE Director, UCSD.
Inside the Beltway: Interviews with Rick Hauck, Richard Somerville, Alan Ladwig, Carolyn Huntoon, John Holdren, Susie Bachtel, Shirley Malcom, Brian Muirhead, Angela Phillips Diaz, Jack Gibbons, Al Gore, Jim Kohlenberger, Lori Garver, “Ride Backed,” USA Today, March 9, 1989; Vincent DelGiudice, UPI, March 8, 1989; Mikulski to SKR, February 8, 1989; Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces (1991–1993); Statements and Testimony Submitted to Commissioners; cartoon by Summers in The Berkshire Eagle, February 29, 1984; SKR to Mark Gearan, Alexis Herman, December 14, 1992.
EarthKAM: Interviews with Karen Flammer, Diane Bowen, Ed Buckbee, Chelsea Clinton, Dan McCleese, Tam O’Shaughnessy. SKR Oral History; JPL video re: KidSat; JPL 2008; Esther Newberg to Marian Wright Edelman, May 28, 1987; Eric Esary, Sally K. Ride, and Phillip Sprangle, “Nonlinear Thomson Scattering of Intense Laser Pulses from Beams and Plasmas,” Physical Review E, October 1993; SKR to author, 1994.
The Speech: Interviews with Richard Somerville, Terry McEntee, Karen Flammer, Susan Okie, Tam O’Shaughnessy. SKR personal papers; SKR to Dorothy Briley, June 2, 1989.
Space.com: Interviews with Alan Ladwig, Andrew Chaikin, Mitchell Cannold, Dori Berinstein, Emily Sachar, Todd Halvorson, Toni DiMartino-Stebish, Tam O’Shaughnessy. James McWilliams, “Ride Tells Campers NASA Has ‘No Issue’ with Gender,” Huntsville Times, October 30, 1999, account of SKR October 29 speech at Space Camp.
CHAPTER 10: SALLY RIDE SCIENCE
CEO: Interviews with Karen Flammer, Terry McEntee, Alann Lopes, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Billie Jean King, Myra Hart, Judith Estrin, Jane Swift. Donna Dubinsky; K. C. Cole, “35 Who Made a Difference: Sally Ride,” Smithsonian, November 2005; A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, A Report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, April 1983; Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2007); Stephanie Steinberg, “Astronaut Sally Ride Aims to Make Kids Starry-eyed,” USA Today, August 2, 2010; SKR Oral History; Bell, N. (2010). Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 1999 to 2009. Washington, DC: Council of Graduate Schools, © 2010 Council of Graduate Schools, Washington, DC; “Ride, Sally, Ride: 1st Female US Astronaut on Why Science Is Cool,” Inventors Digest, November 2009; SKR personal papers; Texas Monthly Talks.
Making Science Fun: Interviews with Bear Ride, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Terry McEntee, Toni DiMartino-Stebich, Maria Zuber, Mike Coats. SKR to Tompkins, July 24, 1970; SK
R at Lehigh Zoellner Arts Center lecture, April 8, 2008.
Headwinds: Interviews with Cathy Benko, Barbara Adachi, K. C. Cole, Shirley Malcom, Lucy McFadden, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Shelly Lazarus, Lynn Martin. SKR to Deloitte Women’s Initiative Partner Conference, San Diego, November 2006; Jones; UC-Berkeley speech; Summers remarks at NBER Conference on Diversifying the Science & Engineering Workforce, January 14, 2005.
The Company: Interviews with Terry McEntee, Craig Covault, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ken Cohen, Dori Berinstein, Leesa Hubbard, Sandy Antalis, Brenda Wilson, Meredith Manning, Maria Zuber. SKR to McEntee, November 10, 2000; Cindy Chang, “Ride into Sciences: Former Astronaut Challenges Young Women,” Pasadena Star-News, March 20, 2005; Some Assembly Required.
MoonKAM: Interviews with Maria Zuber, Marilyn Ortiz, Julie Miller, Jane Swift, Deborah Schneider Harrington, Maleah Grover McKay, Toni DiMartino-Stebich, Francis French; Ros Krasny, “First American Woman in Space Promotes Careers in Science,” Reuters Life! (Reuters.com), March 10, 2010; Marcia Dunn, “Sally Ride Reflects on Latest Pioneer,” The Bergen Record, July 26, 1999, and Dunn, “Sally Ride Hears Echoes in Columbia Disaster,” Los Angeles Times, June 15, 2003; Texas Monthly Talks.
CHAPTER 11: DUTY CALLS
Columbia: Another Horrible Day: Interviews with Bear Ride, Harold Gehman, Lisa Reed, Diane Vaughan, Todd Halvorson. Andrea Siedsma, “Down to Earth: Sally Ride’s Next Launch,” The T Sector: Everything Tech San Diego, April 2001; Ride, “Neon”; Nancy Imperiale, “Sally Ride Tells Girls to Keep Looking Toward Stars,” Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, February 3, 2003; JFK press conference, May 5, 1961; SKR to CNN, February 2, 2003; Leonard; SKR to CAIB press briefing, April 8, 2003, Houston; Halvorson, Florida Today, May 21, 2003; Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report, August 2003; SKR to author, 2005; SKR email to Gehman et al., July 13, 2003; SKR personal papers; Claudia Dreifus, “A Conversation with Sally Ride: Painful Questions from an Ex-Astronaut,” New York Times, August 26, 2003.