“Everywhere I go I meet girls and boys who want to be astronauts and explore space, or they love the ocean and want to be oceanographers, or they love animals and want to be zoologists, or they love designing things and want to be engineers. I want to see those same stars in their eyes in 10 years and know they are on their way!” KnowsWayWantYearsEyeGirlStarsSpaceAnimalBoysDesignOceanEngineersAstronautAnimal LoveBoy And GirlZoologist Author:Sally Ride
“It was hard to become an astronaut. Not anywhere near as much physical training as people imagine, but a lot of mental training, a lot of learning. You have to learn everything there is to know about the Space Shuttle and everything you are going to be doing, and everything you need to know if something goes wrong, and then once you have learned it all, you have to practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice until everything is second nature, so it's a very, very difficult training, and it takes years.” PeopleIfsKnowsNeedsYearsHardDifficultSpacePracticeImagineTrainingAstronautSpace ShuttlePhysical Training Author:Sally Ride
“There's a huge amount of pressure on every astronaut, because when you get right down to it, the experiments that are conducted on a space flight, or the satellites that are carried up, the work that's to be done, is important and expensive work, and you are up there for a week or two on a Space Shuttle flight. The country has invested a lot of money in you and your training, and the Space Shuttle and everything that's in it, and you have to do things correctly. You can't make a mistake during that week or two that you're in space.” TwoImportantCountryDoneSpaceMistakeWeekHugeAmountTrainingPressureExperimentsFlightExpensiveLots Of MoneyAstronautSatellitesSpace ShuttleSpace Flight Author:Sally Ride
“Anything from making a mistake on an experiment that would ruin some scientist on earth's experiment - career, potentially - to doing something wrong with the satellite that a country was depending on for its communications, to making some mistake that could actually cost you and the crew either a mission or your lives. So there is a lot of pressure that's put on every astronaut to just make sure that he or she understands exactly what to do, exactly when to do it, and is trained and prepared to carry it out.” CountryEarthMistakeCareersCommunicationCostScientistPressurePreparedMissionsExperimentsRuinsMaking MistakesCrewAstronautSatellites Author:Sally Ride
“The most important steps that I followed were studying math and science in school. I was always interested in physics and astronomy and chemistry and I continued to study those subjects through high school and college on into graduate school. That's what prepared me for being an astronaut; it actually gave me the qualifications to be selected to be an astronaut.” ImportantSchoolStepsStudySubjectsCollegeHigh SchoolPreparedMathPhysicsAstronomyChemistryGraduatesAstronautSelectedQualificationsMath And ScienceGraduate School Author:Sally Ride
“It was a real honor for me to get to be the first woman astronaut. I think it's really important that young girls that are growing up today can see that women can be astronauts too. There have actually been a lot of women, who are astronauts, that that's a career that's open to them.” ThinkingFirstsImportantRealTodayYoungGirlCareersGrowing UpGrowingHonorAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“The view of earth is spectacular from space. Most people imagine that when astronauts look out the window of the shuttle they see the whole earth like that big blue marble that was made famous by the flights that went to the moon. But the shuttle is much, much closer than those astronauts were. So we don't see the whole planet, the whole ball at once, we just see parts of it.” PeopleLooksMadeWholeBigsEarthSpaceViewsImaginePlanetsMoonWindowBallsBlueFlightImagine ThatSpectacularAstronautMarble Author:Sally Ride
“I didn't really decide that I wanted to be an astronaut for sure until the end of college.” EndsWantedCollegeAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“Different astronauts sleep in different ways.” WayDifferentSleepDifferent WaysAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.” ThinkingSpaceRiskProgramPreparedAccidentsAstronautSpace ShuttleHigh RiskShuttle Program Author:Sally Ride
“On a standard space shuttle crew, two of the astronauts have a test pilot background - the commander and the pilot.” TwoSpaceStandardsTestsBackgroundsPilotsCrewCommandersAstronautSpace Shuttle Author:Sally Ride
“One thing I probably share with everyone else in the astronaut office is composure.” One ThingShareOfficeAstronautComposure Author:Sally Ride
“So most astronauts are astronauts for a couple of years before they are assigned to a flight.” YearsCoupleFlightAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“Some astronauts sleep in sort of beds - compartments that you can open up and crawl into and then close up, almost like a little bedroom.” LittlesSleepBedBedroomAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“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.” MenUsedClassAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“So most astronauts getting ready to lift off are excited and very anxious and worried about that explosion - because if something goes wrong in the first seconds of launch, there's not very much you can do.” IfsFirstsCan DoReadyExcitedWorriedLiftsSecondsAnxiousExplosionsAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“The pressure suit helps if something goes wrong during launch or re-entry - astronauts have a way to parachute off the shuttle. The suits protect you from loss of pressure in case of emergency.” IfsWayHelpingLossCasesProtectPressureSuitsEmergenciesAstronautEntryProtect YouParachutesSpace ShuttleRe Entry Author:Sally Ride
“I never went into physics or the astronaut corps to become a role model. But after my first flight, it became clear to me that I was one. And I began to understand the importance of that to people. Young girls need to see role models in whatever careers they may choose, just so they can picture themselves doing those jobs someday. You can't be what you can't see.” PeopleNeedsFirstsMayJobsYoungGirlCareersRolesClearModelsImportancePhysicsAssFlightSomedayRole ModelsBad AssAstronaut Author:Sally Ride
“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.” DifferentSpaceProgramAstronautSpace Program Author:Sally Ride
“Astronauts will remain the explorers, the pioneers-the first to go back to moon and on to Mars. But I think it's really important to make space space available to as many people as we can. It's going to be a while before we can launch people for less than $20 million a ticket. But that day is coming.” PeopleThinkingFirstsImportantSpaceMillionsFutureMoonAvailableTicketsMarsPredictionsAstronautPioneersExplorers Author:Sally Ride
