Plaque, Western Union Telegram, Sally Ride

This plaque owned by Dr. Sally K. Ride displays a laminated telegram from Evelyn Murray-Lenthall congratulating Ride on behalf of the Society of Women Engineers for her historic flight aboard STS-7, which made her the first American woman in space. The telegram was sent to Ride on July 24, 1983, the day STS-7 landed at Edwards Air Force Base. Welcoming her home, Murray-Lenthall stressed how the flight had been beneficial for all women, saying, "You have demonstrated by this voyage that competence, expertise and opportunity are the only necessary ingredients for sucess."

A physicist with a Ph.D., Ride joined the astronaut corps in 1978 as a part of the first class of astronauts recruited specifically for the Space Shuttle Program. Her second and final space mission was STS-41G in 1984. Viewed as a leader in the NASA community, she served on the Rogers Commission after the Challenger disaster in 1986 as well as the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) in 2003. She also led the task force that produced a visionary strategic planning report in 1987 titled, “NASA Leadership and America’s Future in Space,” but known popularly as the Ride Report.

After she retired from NASA in 1987, Dr. Ride taught first at Stanford and later at the University of California, San Diego. Until her death in 2012, she was president and CEO of Sally Ride Science, a company that promoted science education.

Dr. Ride’s partner, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, donated the plaque to the Museum in 2013.