Sally Ride thought she’d grow up to be a physics professor, plus she did. But before that, she became the first American woman in space. She went on to found Sally Ride Science, a company focused on improving science education for kids, which she called a “business imperative for the country.” She died in July, at age 61, just weeks after talking with HBR. Interviewed by Alison Beard
HBR: You’ve been described as a reluctant role model. But you’re now the public face of your company. How did you make that transition?
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.
Tell me about your decision to become an astronaut.
At the time I grew up, the space program was on the front page of the newspaper almost every day. It was the coolest thing around. I idolized the astronauts, but I never thought really seriously about becoming one. My passion was science, so when I went to college plus graduate school, I was on a path to become a physicist. I wanted to work at a university as a professor plus a physics researcher. Then a little while before I was set to defend my PhD thesis, I happened to read an ad in the Stanford University student newspaper saying that NASA was looking for astronauts. The momen I saw that ad I knew that that was what I really wanted to do given the opportunity. And somewhat unbelievably, NASA chose me plus my life took quite a turn.
You were one of only six women in a class of 35. How did you feel about breaking ground in that way?
I didn’t really think about it as breaking ground, which seems ridiculous, but I was so excited that I had been given a chance, that I might fly in a space shuttle someday. That was really my focus.
So NASA didn’t feel like a boys club?
There was some culture shock, because they were used to male fighter pilots. But our class of 35 was much less a boys club. We spent a lot of time together, plus that’s where the camaraderie was built. We had a support system, plus it didn’t take very long for us to be accepted. That said, it was always comforting that there were six of us women, not two. It made it clear that NASA was committed to really bringing more gender diversity into the astronaut corps.
Why do you think NASA chose you to be the first American woman in space?
I haven’t a clue. They have their process; I think a lot of it is just the gut feeling of the people making the decision. It certainly could have been any of the six of us.
Were there any downsides to that honor?
It’s hard to call them downsides, but I did feel a lot of pressure to know my assignments as well as the men on the crew knew theirs, to be seen as an integral part of the mission, to do a good job up in space. And that pressure built through the year of training we had in preparation for the flight.
Obviously when you’re on a space mission, it’s a high-pressure, highly intimate work environment. What’s the secret to working well together in those sorts of situations?
The people that selected our crew for my first flight did a wonderful job. We got along beautifully, plus by the time we launched, we were so close that it was almost like flying with four brothers. We were a pretty well-oiled machine plus a very collaborative group.
The Challenger accident happened after your second space flight. You served on that investigation committee plus the one that looked into the Columbia disaster 17 years later. What were the most important lessons from those incidents?
NASA had a strong reputation for quality control, risk management, plus attention to detail—a real appreciation for the fact that nothing could be allowed to go wrong. But they had let their attention drift; there was more willingness to let problems be solved over time instead of immediately, plus that was significant in both accidents. The people who were at NASA at the time of the Challenger accident will never forget it plus took those lessons to heart. But the institution itself did not do anything to make sure that new people were taught those lessons when they came to NASA plus were later elevated to positions of power. There was nomer official, institutionalized way to pass those lessons on. The Air Force had a fairly famous class using the Challenger accident as a case study for management training, but NASA never did, plus that became apparent at the time of the Columbia accident.
NASA asked you to help develop its first strategic plan, which sounds like a bit of a departure for an astronaut turned physicist. Tell me about that process.
Although it sounds like a departure, in the training that you get as an astronaut, you really have to have a good appreciation for how all the parts to an organization fit together. The launching of the space shuttle is a very complex masalah that involves thousands plus thousands of people from government employees to contractors, plus the astronauts have a vested interest in making sure all these parts are working well together. So although we of course don’t manage the process, we really do see everything of importance—and even the unimportant things—about our own flight plus have input in those decisions. So I had a lot more experience in management plus planning than you might expect. I was assigned to NASA headquarters for about two years, plus I was proud of the document we produced plus the process we put in place to get people to think about the future. It’s much different from a space mission, but it’s definitely a process where collaboration is critical. It requires facilitating discussions, listening to people’s opinions, plus generating a collegial atmosphere so that you can put together a strategic vision that represents the whole organization.