Ride, Sally, ride: Reagan library to unveil statue of trailblazing astronaut

Sally Ride, the Southern California astronaut and trailblazer who faced space and cancer with courage, will become the first non-Reagan to be honored with her own statue at the Simi Valley museum dedicated to the former president.

The 7-foot-tall bronze and gold monument will be uncovered on the grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum during a Fourth of July celebration Tuesday. Ride's likeness will join statues of the former president and Nancy Reagan on the campus. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is part of a gallery monument that includes President Reagan.

Ride was the first American woman in space as part of an early Challenger mission 40 years ago, on June 18, 1983. She returned to space on the shuttle a year later.

Ride, who died in 2012, is an icon, said Steven Barber, the Santa Monica filmmaker who led the drive for the statue as well an earlier project resulting in a Ride monument in Garden City, New York. He said he was driven by the lack of recognition for female astronauts.

“There weren't any monuments for women,” Barber said, crediting Ride with pushing open doors for others, including Christina Koch, set to become the first woman on a flight around the moon on an Artemis 2 mission scheduled for 2024.

“This is all because of Sally Ride’s foray into an all-man’s world,” he said.

Ride grew up in Encino and earned a doctorate in physics at Stanford University where she was also a star tennis player. She learned through a newspaper story that NASA was hiring astronauts and was one of 8,000 people who applied. She got the job and became the youngest American to fly into space in 1983. She was 32.

The following year, on her second Challenger mission, she spoke to President Reagan from space.

“It’s just as much fun the second time around. I think it will be more fun the third time,” she said. Ride was in training for that third mission when the Challenger exploded in 1986, killing all seven of its crew members. Reagan appointed her to the panel that investigated the explosion.

The tragedy caused all shuttle flights to be temporarily grounded. Ride retired from NASA in 1987 and never made her third flight.

Once married and divorced, Ride lived in La Jolla with the woman who was her life partner for 27 years, Tam O'Shaugnessy. They launched Sally Ride Science, an organization dedicated to helping children, especially girls, pursue careers in math, science and engineering.

Ride's sexual orientation became public after her death when the relationship with O'Shaugnessy was noted in the obituary released by Sally Ride Science.

She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After a 17-month battle, she died on July 23, 2012. She was 61.

“She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars and later fought tirelessly to help them get there,” President Barack Obama said after her passing.

Regan considered her a modern-day hero. He believed deeply role models need to be honored, said Melissa Giller, spokeswoman for the museum.

“We thought she would be a great addition to our campus,” she said.

The presidential library’s free July 4 celebration begins at 10 a.m. and includes children’s crafts, presidential re-enactors and musical performances. The unveiling of the statue will come at noon. Bear Ride, the astronaut’s sister, will speak.

Barber has led projects that have brought monuments for the crews of Apollo 11 and Apollo 13. His goals include statues for Guy Bluford, the first Black person in space, and Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space.

He focused on the courage and commitment of Ride and other astronauts who are driven to explore space despite the risks.

“There is nothing safe about getting into a rocket,” he said. “I’m really blown away by these people who can’t not get on a rocket.”

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Reagan library in Simi honors trailblazer Sally Ride with statue