Editing Sally Ride (section)

== NASA astronaut ==
===Selection and training===
{{main|NASA Astronaut Group 8}}
[[File:S83-32724.jpg|thumb|right|During training in May 1983|alt=Ride standing in a doorway in a NASA uniform]]
In January 1977, Ride spotted an article on the front page of ''[[The Stanford Daily]]'' that told how the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) was recruiting a new group of [[astronaut]]s  for the [[Space Shuttle]] program and wanted to recruit women. No women had previously been NASA astronauts, although the [[Soviet Union]]'s [[cosmonaut]] [[Valentina Tereshkova]] had flown in space in 1963. Ride mailed a request for, and received the application forms. When asked for three persons with knowledge of her qualifications, she gave the names of three of her peers from college with whom she had been in relationships: Colson, Tompkins and Tyson.<ref>{{cite news |title=NASA to Recruit Women |newspaper=[[The Stanford Daily]] |first=Will |last=Nixon |date=January 12, 1977 |page=1 |url=https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1977/01/12?page=1 |access-date=March 5, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=78–82}}

Ride's was one of 8,079 applications NASA received by the June 30, 1977, deadline. She then became one of 208 finalists.<ref name="selection">{{cite press release |first=Milton |last=Reim |title=NASA Selects 35 Astronaut Candidates |id=78-03 |date=January 16, 1978 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83130main_1978.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010170007/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83130main_1978.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-10 |url-status=live |access-date=September 17, 2020}}</ref> She was the only woman among the twenty applicants in the sixth group, all applicants for [[mission specialist]] positions, who reported to  NASA's [[Johnson Space Center]] (JSC) in [[Houston]], Texas, on October 3, for a week of  interviews and medical examinations.<ref>{{cite press release |id=77-56 |title=Sixth Group Of Astronaut Applicants- All Mission Specialists |date=October 3, 1977 |first=Milton E. |last=Reim |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83129main_1977.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011015017/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83129main_1977.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-11 |url-status=live |access-date=March 6, 2022 }}</ref> Her physical fitness impressed the doctors. They also placed her in a [[Personal Rescue Enclosure]] to see if she suffered from [[claustrophobia]]. She was asked to write a one-page essay on why she wanted to become an astronaut. Finally, she was interviewed by the selection committee.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=85–89}} On January 16, 1978, she received a phone call from [[George Abbey (NASA)|George Abbey]], NASA's director of flight operations, who informed her that she had been selected as part of [[NASA Astronaut Group 8]]. She was one of 35 astronaut candidates in the group, of whom six were women.<ref name="selection" />

[[File:Astronaut Sally K. Ride, STS-7 mission specialist, in a T-38 jet.jpg|thumb|left|In a NASA [[T-38 Talon]] jet|alt=refer to caption]]
Group 8's name for itself was "TFNG". The abbreviation was deliberately ambiguous; for public purposes, it stood for "Thirty-Five New Guys", but within the group itself, it was known to stand for the military phrase, "[[Fucking New Guy|the fucking new guy]]", used to denote newcomers to a [[military unit]].<ref name="Mullane2007">{{cite book |last=Mullane |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Mullane |title=Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut|year=2007 |publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-7432-7683-2 |oclc=671034758 }}</ref>{{rp|p=63}} Officially, they were [[astronaut candidate]]s; they would not become fully-fledged astronauts until they had completed their training. Ride was graded a [[United States federal civil service|civil service]] GS-12, with a salary of US$21,883 ({{Inflation|US|21883|1978|fmt=eq}}). She bought a [[housing unit|unit]] in the [[Nassau Bay, Texas]], area, and moved in with Colson, who secured a research grant at [[Rice University]] so they could move to Houston together. He became the only unmarried astronaut candidate's partner.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=95–101}} Ride and Colson split up in January 1979, and she briefly dated fellow astronaut candidate [[Robert L. Gibson|Robert "Hoot" Gibson]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=118–120}}

Astronaut candidate training included learning to fly NASA's [[T-38 Talon]] jet aircraft. Officially, mission specialists did not have to qualify as pilots, only ride in the back seat and handle an emergency if the pilot became incapacitated. They were never to control the aircraft below {{convert|5000|ft}}, but many of the astronaut pilots and pilot candidates, eager to share their love of flying, ignored the rules, and let the more proficient mission specialist candidates fly the jets lower. [[John Fabian]] even had her fly "under the hood", with the windows blacked out and using instruments only. Ride enjoyed flying so much she took private flying lessons to earn a [[private pilot's license]]. She bought a part interest in a [[Grumman American AA-5|Grumman Tiger]] aircraft, which she would fly on weekends.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=95–101}} On August 31, 1979, NASA announced that the 35 astronaut candidates had completed their training and evaluation, and were now officially astronauts, qualified for selection on space flight crews.<ref>{{cite press release |title=35 Astronaut Candidates Complete Training and Evaluation Period |id=79-53 |publisher=[[NASA]] |date=August 31, 1979 |first=Milton |last=Reim |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010170330/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-10 |url-status=live |access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref>

In 1981, Ride began dating [[Steven Hawley]], another one of the TFNGs. They moved in together, and considered themselves engaged. Unlike Colson, he was not aware of her earlier relationship with Tyson.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=121}} They were married on July 26, 1982, in the backyard of Hawley's parents' house in [[Salina, Kansas]]. Ride flew up from Houston for the occasion in her Grumman Tiger, and wore white jeans. The ceremony was jointly conducted by Hawley's father Bernard, the pastor at the local Presbyterian church, and Ride's sister Bear. It was deliberately kept low-key, with only parents and siblings in attendance. They became the third NASA astronaut couple, after [[Rhea Seddon]] and Hoot Gibson, who had married a few months before, and [[Anna Lee Fisher|Anna Fisher]] and her husband [[William Frederick Fisher|Bill Fisher]], who became an astronaut couple when the latter was selected with [[NASA Astronaut Group 9]] in 1980. Ride did not [[maiden and married names#Retain the birth name|take her husband's name]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=138–142}}

===STS-7===
{{Main|STS-7}}
[[File:Sally Ride, America's first woman astronaut communicates with ground controllers from the flight deck - NARA - 541940.jpg|thumb|right|Communicating with ground controllers from the flight deck during the [[STS-7]] mission|alt=refer to caption]]
Ride served as a ground-based [[capsule communicator]] (CapCom) for the [[STS-2|second]] and [[STS-3|third]] Space Shuttle flights, and helped develop the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS), also known as the  "[[Canadarm]]" or robot arm.<ref name="People1983">{{cite magazine |last1=Ryan |first1=Michael |title=A Ride in Space |url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-a-ride-in-space-vol-19-no-24/ |access-date=April 13, 2014 |magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]  |date=June 20, 1983 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505122617/https://people.com/archive/cover-story-a-ride-in-space-vol-19-no-24/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021  |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="jplbio">{{cite web |author1=Planetary Science Communications |author1-link=Jet Propulsion Laboratory |title=Sally Ride (1951–2012) |url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/1760/sally-ride-1951-2012/ |website=Solar System Exploration |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=November 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505124028/https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/people/1760/sally-ride-1951-2012/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=[[La Cañada Flintridge, California]] |url-status=live}}</ref> She was the first woman to serve as a CapCom.<ref>{{cite web |title=40 Years Ago: Columbia Returns to Space on the STS-2 Mission  |date= November 12, 2021 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/40-years-ago-columbia-returns-to-space-on-the-sts-2-mission |access-date=March 21, 2022}}</ref> By early 1982, George Abbey and the [[Chief of the Astronaut Office]], [[John Young (astronaut)|John Young]], wanted to begin scheduling missions with the TFNGs, starting with the [[STS-7|seventh Space Shuttle mission]]. To command it, they chose [[Robert Crippen]], who had flown with Young on the [[STS-1|first Space Shuttle mission]]. They wanted a woman to fly on the mission, and since the mission involved the use of the RMS, the choice narrowed to Ride, [[Judy Resnik]] and Anna Fisher, who had specialized on it. Factors in Ride's favor included her agreeable personality and ability to work with others, her performance as CapCom, and her skill with the robot arm. However, JSC director [[Chris Kraft]] preferred Fisher, and Abbey had to defend their decision. NASA Headquarters ultimately approved Ride's selection,<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=126–130}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Shayler |first1=David J. |last2=Burgess |first2=Colin |author-link2=Colin Burgess (author) |year=2020 |title=NASA's First Space Shuttle Astronaut selection: Redefining the Right Stuff |publisher=Praxis Publishing |location=Chicester, UK |isbn=978-3030-45741-9 |oclc=1145568343 }}</ref>{{rp|pp=290–293}} which was officially announced in April 1982.<ref>{{cite press release |first=John |last=Lawrence |id=82-023 |date=April 19, 1982 |title=Three Shuttle Crews Announced |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83134main_1982.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011021103/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83134main_1982.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-11 |url-status=live |access-date=March 6, 2022 }}</ref>

As the first American woman to fly in space, Ride was subjected to media attention. There were over five hundred requests for private interviews, all of which were declined. Instead, NASA hosted the usual pre-launch press conference on May 24, 1983.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=131, 147}} Ride was asked questions such as, "Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?" and "Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?" She insisted that she saw herself in only one way—as an astronaut.<ref name="People1983" /> NASA was still adjusting to female astronauts, and engineers had asked Ride to assist them in developing a "space makeup kit", assuming it would be something a woman would want on board. They also infamously suggested providing Ride with a supply of 100 [[tampon]]s for the six-day mission.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blakemore |first=Erin |title=When Sally Ride Took Her First Space Flight, Sexism Was the Norm |url=https://www.history.com/news/sally-ride-first-astronaut-sexism |access-date=April 5, 2022 |website=[[History (American TV network)|History.com]] |date=June 18, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Schwarcz |first=Joe |author-link=Joseph A. Schwarcz |title=A Feast of Science: Intriguing Morsels from the Science of Everyday Life |date=May 22, 2018 |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-77305-134-5 |oclc=1003797634 }}</ref>{{rp|pp=176–177}}

[[File:STS007-14-629.jpg|thumb|left|Floating freely on the flight deck of the {{OV|Challenger}} during the [[STS-7]] mission. Left from her head float three [[Hewlett-Packard]] [[HP-41C|HP-41 series]] pocket calculators [[modding|customized]] by NASA, which were used for various tasks on board.|alt=refer to caption]]
When the {{OV|Challenger|full=nolink}} lifted off from the [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) on June 18, 1983, Ride became the first American woman to fly in space, and the third woman overall.<ref name="obit" /> She also became the youngest American astronaut in space, although there had been younger cosmonauts.<ref name="Youngest">{{cite web  |last1=Grinter|first1=Kay |title=Kennedy Space Center FAQ |url=https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/pao/faq/faqanswers.htm |website=Science, Technology and Engineering |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=July 23, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505110922/https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/pao/faq/faqanswers.htm |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=Merritt Island, Florida |date=November 17, 2000 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many of the people attending the launch wore T-shirts bearing the words "Ride, Sally Ride", lyrics from [[Wilson Pickett]]'s song "[[Mustang Sally (song)|Mustang Sally]]".<ref name="obit" /> The purpose of the mission was to deploy two [[communications satellite]]s: [[Anik (satellite)|Anik C2]] for [[Telesat]] of Canada and [[Palapa|Palapa B1]] for Indonesia. Both were deployed during the first two days of the mission.<ref name="STS-7">{{cite web |title= STS-7 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-7.html |access-date=March 17, 2022}}</ref>

The mission also carried the first [[Shuttle pallet satellite]] (SPAS-1), which carried ten experiments to study formation of [[alloy|metal alloys]] in [[Micro-g environment|microgravity]]. Part of Ride's job was to operate the robot arm to deploy and later retrieve SPAS-1, which was brought back to Earth. The orbiter's small [[Reaction control system]] rockets were fired while SPAS-1 was held by the remote manipulator system to test the movement on an extended arm.<ref name="sts7postreport" /> STS-7 was also the first occasion on which a photograph was taken of the Space Shuttle in orbit. This was done using the camera on SPAS-1. Ride manipulated the robot arm into the shape of a "7", as it appeared on the mission patch.<ref>{{cite web |title=Patch, Mission, STS-7, Challenger, Sally Ride |website=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]]  |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/patch-mission-sts-7-challenger-sally-ride/nasm_A20140294000 |access-date=March 17, 2022}}</ref> The mission also studied [[Space adaptation syndrome]], a bout of [[nausea]] frequently experienced by astronauts during the early phase of a space flight.<ref name="sts7postreport">{{cite web |last1=Abrahamson |first1=James A. |title=Space Transportation System Mission STS-7 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19830023440/downloads/19830023440.pdf |website=NTRS – NASA Technical Reports Server |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505125151/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19830023440/downloads/19830023440.pdf |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=August 5, 1983 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ride1" /> Ride was not affected and did not require medication for the syndrome.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=180}} Bad weather forced ''Challenger'' to land at [[Edwards Air Force Base]] in California instead of the [[Shuttle Landing Facility]] at the KSC.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=165}} The mission lasted  6 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes and 59 seconds.<ref name="STS-7" />

Now a celebrity, Ride, along with her STS-7 crewmates, spent the next few months after her flight on tour. She met with the [[Governor of California]], [[George Deukmejian]], and the [[Mayor of New York]], [[Ed Koch]]. She testified before the Congressional Space Caucus on the efficacy of the robot arm, and addressed the [[National Press Club (United States)|National Press Club]], but declined to appear with [[Bob Hope]], whom she regarded as sexist. The crew presented President [[Ronald Reagan]] with [[jelly bean]]s that had been flown on the flight.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=171–177}} In September 1983, on her own initiative, she met with [[Svetlana Savitskaya]], the second woman to fly in space, in [[Budapest]]. The two formed an instant camaraderie, and they were able to converse for six hours, thanks to Savitskaya's command of English. They exchanged gifts: Savitskaya presented Ride with Russian dolls, books and a scarf, and Ride gave Savitskaya an STS-7 charm that had flown on the mission and a TFNG shirt. They also signed autographs for each other on Russian [[first day cover]]s.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=179–183}}

===STS-41-G===
{{Main|STS-41-G}}
[[File:Ride on the Flight Deck - GPN-2000-001083.jpg|thumb|right|On the flight deck of the {{OV|Challenger}} during the [[STS-41-G]] mission|alt=refer to caption]]
While she was still engaged on the publicity tour, Abbey assigned Ride to the crew of [[STS-41-G]]. This was on Crippen's request; he had been assigned to another mission, [[STS-41-C]], that would fly beforehand as part of a test to see how quickly crews could be turned around, and wanted Ride as his flight engineer again so that she could sit in for him during crew training for STS-41-G in the meantime. During mission simulations, she sat in the commander's left hand seat. Ride would become the first American woman to fly twice, and her TFNG crewmate [[Kathryn Sullivan]] would become the first American woman to perform an [[extravehicular activity]] (EVA); Savitskaya had already become the first woman to do both when she flew in space on [[Soyuz T-12]] in July 1984. However, it would be the first time that two women were in space together.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=188–191}}<ref name="STS-41G" />

The mission lifted off from the KSC in ''Challenger'' on  October 5, 1984. The rookie astronauts on the flight were cautious about moving about too soon, lest they suffer from space adaptation syndrome, but Ride was now a veteran astronaut, one who knew that she would not be affected. Once in orbit she immediately and gracefully began moving about. The crew deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conducted scientific observations of the Earth with the OSTA-3 pallet (including the SIR-B radar, FILE, and MAPS experiments) and large format camera (LFC), and conducted numerous in-cabin experiments as well as activating eight [[Getaway Special]] canisters containing experiments devised by outside groups.<ref name="STS-41G" />

When the SIR-B antenna failed to unfold correctly, Ride used the robot arm to shake it loose, manipulating the robot arm much faster than she had been trained. She also repaired a broken antenna on the middeck. During the second day of the mission, the SIR-B antenna had to be stowed so ''Challenger''{{'}}s orbit could be altered but its latches failed to clamp and close the antenna. Ride then used the RMS to nudge the antenna panel closed. Sullivan performed an EVA with fellow TFNG mission specialist [[David Leestma]], in which they showed that a [[satellite]] could be refueled in orbit. On this mission ''Challenger'' completed 132 orbits of the Earth in 197.5 hours, landing back at the KSC on October 13, 1984.<ref name="STS-41G">{{cite web |publisher=[[NASA]] |title=STS-41G |url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-41G.html |access-date=February 14, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=35 Years Ago: STS-41G - A Flight of Many Firsts  |date= October 2019 |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/35-years-ago-sts-41g-a-flight-of-many-firsts |access-date=March 17, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=188–191}} During the mission, Ride carried a white silk scarf that had been worn by [[Amelia Earhart]].<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=198}} On her two flights  Ride had spent over 343 hours in space.<ref name="space-com-obit">{{cite web |last1=Moskowitz |first1=Clara |title=Sally Ride, 1st American Woman in Space, Dies at 61 |url=https://www.space.com/16712-sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dies.html |website=[[Space.com]] |location=New York City |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505130457/https://www.space.com/16712-sally-ride-first-american-woman-in-space-dies.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=July 23, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Planned third mission===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?320145-1/sally-ride Presentation by Sherr on ''Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space'', June 25, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?321162-6/sally-ride Presentation by Sherr on ''Sally Ride'', August 30, 2014], [[C-SPAN]]| video3 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?324264-2/sally-ride Presentation by Sherr on ''Sally Ride'', February 14, 2015], [[C-SPAN]]}} 
Ride was soon back in the rotation, training for her third flight, STS-61-I. This mission was scheduled to be flown no later than July 15, 1986, and was to deploy the [[Intelsat VI]]-1 and [[INSAT]] 1-C communications satellites and carry the Materials Science Lab-4.<ref>{{cite press release |first=Steve |last=Nesbitt |id=86-027 |date=June 17, 1985 |title=NASA Names Astronaut Crew For Space Shuttle Mission 61-I |publisher=[[NASA]] |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83137main_1985.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061011022315/http://www1.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83137main_1985.pdf |archive-date=2006-10-11 |url-status=live |access-date=July 23, 2022 }}</ref> The crew was subsequently switched to [[Cancelled Space Shuttle missions#STS-61-M (Challenger)|STS-61-M]], a [[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System]] (TRDS) deployment mission scheduled to be flown in July 1986.<ref name="si-bio">{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Patti |title=Sally K. Ride Papers |url=https://sova.si.edu/record/NASM.2014.0025 |website=[[Smithsonian Institution Archives|Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives]] |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505130915/https://sova.si.edu/record/NASM.2014.0025 |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |location=Washington, D.C. |year=2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="RogersVol2">{{cite report |title=Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' Accident |author1=Rogers, William P. |author2=Armstrong, Neil A. |author3=Acheson, David C. |author4=Covert, Eugene E. |author5=Feynman, Richard P. |author6=Hotz, Robert B. |author7=Kutyna, Donald J. |author8=Ride, Sally K. |author9=Rummel, Robert W. |author10=Sutter, Joseph F. |author11=Walker, Arthur B. C. Jr. |author12=Wheelon, Albert D. |author13=Yeager, Charles E. |author1-link=William P. Rogers |author2-link=Neil Armstrong |author3-link=David Campion Acheson |author4-link=Eugene E. Covert |author5-link=Richard Feynman |author7-link=Donald J. Kutyna |author8-link=Sally Ride |author10-link=Joe Sutter |author11-link=Arthur B. C. Walker Jr. |author13-link=Chuck Yeager |volume=2 |page=J-36 |year=1986 |url=https://history.nasa.gov/rogersrep/v2appj.htm |access-date=July 23, 2022 }}</ref> She also served on two more missions as CapCom. On January 7, 1986, Ride provided a glowing reference for her friend (and eventual biographer) [[Lynn Sherr]] for NASA's [[Journalist in Space Project]]. Sherr became one of the finalists.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=200–201}} During 1985, Ride began an affair with [[Tam O'Shaughnessy]]. The two knew each other from the junior tennis circuit, and from when Ride was at Stanford.  O'Shaughnessy was now living in Atlanta, and had recently broken up with her female partner. Ride visited when she went to Atlanta on speaking engagements.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=192–195}} Hawley was  aware that his marriage was in trouble, but not that O'Shaughnessy was more than a friend. Ride still performed her astronaut spouse duties for Hawley when he flew in space for the second time on [[STS-61-C]] in January 1986.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=199}} Astronauts and their spouses were quarantined for a few days before launch, and they stayed at the [[astronaut beach house]] at the KSC. Spouses were expected to attend events before and after launches, including the post-mission publicity tour.<ref>{{cite book |last=Seddon |first=Rhea |title=Go For Orbit: One of America's First Women Astronauts Finds Her Space |location=Murfreesboro, Tennessee |publisher=Your Space Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-9962178-1-1 |oclc=921147949 }}</ref>{{rp|pp=157–166}} This could be agonizing for a couple whose marriage was breaking up.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|p=199}}

===Rogers Commission===
STS-61-M was cancelled after the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster]] later that month.<ref name="si-bio" /> Ride was appointed to the [[Rogers Commission Report|Rogers Commission]], the [[Presidential Commission (United States)|presidential commission]] investigating the disaster, and headed its subcommittee on operations. She was the only Space Shuttle astronaut and the only current NASA employee on the commission. After her death in 2012, [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] [[Donald J. Kutyna]] revealed that she had discreetly provided him with key information about [[O-rings]], namely, that they become stiff at low temperatures, that eventually led to identification of the cause of the explosion. To protect her source, they then fed this information to [[Richard Feynman]]. Ride was even more disturbed by revelations of NASA dysfunctional management decision-making and risk-assessment processes.<ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=204–213}}<ref name="popmech2016">{{cite web |last1=Dean |first1=Margaret Lazarus |title=The Oral History of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a18616/an-oral-history-of-the-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster/ |website=[[Popular Mechanics]] |access-date=February 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505124603/https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a18616/an-oral-history-of-the-space-shuttle-challenger-disaster/ |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |date=January 28, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="RogersVol1">{{cite report |author1=Rogers, William P. |author2=Armstrong, Neil A. |author3=Acheson, David C. |author4=Covert, Eugene E. |author5=Feynman, Richard P. |author6=Hotz, Robert B. |author7=Kutyna, Donald J. |author8=Ride, Sally K. |author9=Rummel, Robert W. |author10=Sutter, Joseph F. |author11=Walker, Arthur B. C. Jr. |author12=Wheelon, Albert D. |author13=Yeager, Charles E. |author1-link=William P. Rogers |author2-link=Neil Armstrong |author3-link=David Campion Acheson |author4-link=Eugene E. Covert |author5-link=Richard Feynman |author7-link=Donald J. Kutyna |author8-link=Sally Ride |author10-link=Joe Sutter |author11-link=Arthur B. C. Walker Jr. |author13-link=Chuck Yeager |title=Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Volume 1 |date=June 6, 1986 |publisher=[[Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident]] |location=Washington, D.C. |page=5 |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19860015255/downloads/19860015255.pdf |access-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505111553/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19860015255/downloads/19860015255.pdf |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> According to [[Roger Boisjoly]], who was one of the engineers that warned of the technical problems that led to the ''Challenger'' disaster, after the entire workforce of [[Thiokol|Morton-Thiokol]] shunned him, Ride was the only public figure to show support for him when he went public with his pre-disaster warnings. Ride hugged him publicly to show her support for his efforts.<ref name="times-20210204">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Douglas |title=Roger Boisjoly, 73, Dies; Warned of Shuttle Danger |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/roger-boisjoly-73-dies-warned-of-shuttle-danger.html |access-date=May 11, 2015 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505134314/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/roger-boisjoly-73-dies-warned-of-shuttle-danger.html |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Rogers Commission submitted its report on June 6, 1986.<ref name="RogersVol1" />

Following the ''Challenger'' investigation, Ride was assigned to NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she led NASA's first [[strategic planning]] effort. She authored a report titled "[[The Ride Report|NASA Leadership and America's Future in Space]]". NASA management was unhappy with its prioritization of Earth exploration over a mission to Mars. She founded NASA's Office of Exploration, which she headed for two months. On weekends she flew to Atlanta to be with O'Shaughnessy. In October 1986, she published a children's book, ''To Space and Back'', which she co-wrote with Sue Okie, her high school and  Swarthmore friend.<ref name="ride1" /><ref name="Sherr2014" />{{rp|pp=221–228}}