Quotes from Sally Ride

Q: Dr. Ride, apart from the obvious differences, how do you assess the differences in men and women astronauts? A: Aside from the obvious differences, I don't think there are any. - Prime crew press conference, April 29, 1982

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

The most anxious time was during launch, just because that is so dramatic.

Well, we spend an awful lot of our time working and doing experiments. It's very busy up on the shuttle.

Once you are assigned to a flight, the whole crew is assigned at the same time, and then that crew trains together for a whole year to prepare for that flight.

I had both male and female heroes.

It's no secret that I've been reluctant to use my name for things.

Then during the mission itself, I used the space shuttle's robot arm to release a satellite into orbit.

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.

It's easy to sleep floating around - it's very comfortable. But you have to be careful that you don't float into somebody or something!

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.

I think maybe it's too bad that our society isn't further along and this is such a big deal. I think it's time...that people realize that women in this country can do any job they want to do.

One thing I probably share with everyone else in the astronaut office is composure.

There are aspects of being the first woman in space that I'm not going to enjoy.

The fact that I was going to be the first American woman to go into space carried huge expectations along with it.

The space shuttle is a better and safer rocket than it was before the Challenger accident.

No, I think most astronauts recognize that the space shuttle program is very high-risk, and are prepared for accidents.

My background is in physics, so I was the mission specialist, who is sort of like the flight engineer on an airplane.

I did not come to NASA to make history.

NASA has to approve whatever we wear, so there are clothes to choose from, like space shorts - we wear those a lot - and NASA T-shirts.

It takes a couple of years just to get the background and knowledge that you need before you can go into detailed training for your mission.

I do a lot of running and hiking, and I also collect stamps - space stamps and Olympics stamps.

I don't have any nicknames.

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.