Astronaut gay
The first American female in space sparked a huge controversy at NASA after her death in 2012
Sally Travel made history as America's first gal in space on June 18, 1983.
And as PBS recently highlighted, she had to put up with some incredibly sexist questions and comments before and after her inaugural launch.
But that's just one piece of Ride's fascinating legacy: She also pushed NASA into reform after her death from pancreatic cancer in 2012.
Ride was reportedly a very private person and never made her sexuality public while she was alive. So the news that Ride was gay did not spread until after she passed away.
Her obituary stated that she was survived by Tam O'Shaughnessy, her "partner of 27 years."
The news electrified the territory and science people, and revealed that Ride's decision to remain silent about her sexuality may not have been entirely her own.
A 2014 story in The American Prospect hinted at NASA's attitude toward the lesbian, bisexual, same-sex attracted, transgender, and gay (LGBTQ) community around Ride's time there:
[C]oming out doesn't feel to have occurred to [Ride] and certainly would own jeopardized her chance to go to space if
How a history-making LGBT astronaut was accused of the first-ever space crime
Last week, the crew at the International Room Station underwent a change as Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore, who had been stranded in space for over nine months, finally returned to World along with an American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut.
They were replaced by Crew-10, which was launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The mission was commanded by astronaut Anne McClain, who, during her previous mission in 2019, became the first person in history suspected of committing a crime in outer vacuum after her ex-partner alleged that McClain accessed her bank account from territory. Upon McClain's come back to Earth, it was revealed that the allegation was false, and her ex-wife, Summer Worden, even faced charges related to the incident.
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Anne McClain
(Photo: NASA)
Anne McClain, 45, was born in Spokane, Washington. She served for years as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, retiring with the rank of colonel. She participated in operations in Iraq, logging 800 hours in 216 combat missions. Later, she trained pilots and became a test pilot, accumulating over 2,000 flight
Sally: The Private Life of the First Gay Astronaut
When Sally Travel became the first American chick in space in 1983, she was instantly canonised. A national heroine launched into orbit, she embodied intelligence, grace under pressure, and the understated cool of the space age. But what the public didn’t know then, and only learned posthumously, was that Ride was also a queer woman, hushedly partnered with scientist and author Tam O’Shaughnessy for nearly three decades.
Emmy-winning director Cristina Costantini’s new documentary, Sally, explores Ride’s life, humanising her mythic figure to tell what it really meant to be a queer woman working in the Cold War-era American government. Composed of a rich mezze board of archival footage, animation, and delicately reenacted 16mm motion picture, Sally centres not on the machinery of space travel but on the emotional architecture of a life. Costantini builds her subject slowly and lovingly, drawing not just from Ride’s possess NASA-era interviews but also from the recollections of O’Shaughnessy, who becomes the documentary’s narrative spine. Their story is tender, careful, and coded, unfolding in the margins of a public being that refus
Why Aren't There Any Openly Gay Astronauts?
Three hundred and thirty American men and women have served as astronauts since the open of NASA's human spaceflight program. Only one is publicly known to own been gay or multi-attracted — Sally Ride — and she kept it private until her death, yesterday (July 23), when her obituary on the Sally Ride Science organization's website stated that Commute was survived by Tam O'Shaughnessy, her "partner of 27 years."
As the first American woman in vacuum and a scientist, Move served as a role model for generations of young girls. Now, she'll serve as a role model for LGBT youth as well, said her sister, Bear Ride. "I hope it makes it easier for kids growing up gay that they know that another one of their heroes was like them," Bear Operate, who identifies as queer , told Buzzfeed yesterday.
Gay rights advocates speak Sally Ride's addition to the ranks of LGBT role models will form a tremendous impact. "Role models are incredibly valuable for everyone, but I think especially for LGBT youth, who may be born into a family where they don't hold an LGBT role model. It is so crucial for them to watch out into the earth and see they could