Quotes from Sally Ride

Yes, I did feel a special responsibility to be the first American woman in space.

The women's movement had already paved the way, I think, for my coming.

When you're getting ready to launch into space, you're sitting on a big explosion waiting to happen.

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.

I felt very honored, and I knew that people would be watching very closely, and I felt it was very, very important that I do a good job.

So I saw many planets, and they looked just a little bit brighter than they do from Earth.

I think eventually private enterprise will be able to send people into orbit, but I suspect initially it's going to have to be with NASA's help.

It's well known that many girls have a tendency to dumb down when they're in middle school.

It takes a few years to prepare for a space mission.

I didn't really decide that I wanted to be an astronaut for sure until the end of college.

So I decided on science when I was in college.

We need to make science cool again.

Rocket science is tough, and rockets have a way of failing.

The thing I'll remember most about the flight is that it was fun. In fact, I'm sure it was the most fun that I'll ever have in my life.

I've spent my whole life not talking to people, and I don't see why I should start now.

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!

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.

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.

Different astronauts sleep in different ways.

It's too bad our society isn't further along.

I have been a bit of a risk-taker all my life.

But even in elementary school and junior high, I was very interested in space and in the space program.

I was always very interested in science, and I knew that for me, science was a better long-term career than tennis.

Because I was a tennis player, Billie Jean King was a hero of mine.