NASA Astronaut Sally Ride Comes Out after her Death

The late astronaut Sally Ride, the First US Woman in Space, came out of the closet this week with neither a bang nor a whimper, but with a quiet, matter-of-fact phrase released after her death that identified Tam O'Shaughnessy, a former science teacher and science writer, as her partner of 27 years.

Ride's sister, Bear, told the Seattle Times that Sally "never hid her relationship with Tam" but cited the pioneering astronaut's sense of privacy as the reason she never came out with fanfare while she was alive.


But Daily Beast writer Andrew Sullivan criticized the first American woman in space not coming out sooner.

Ride "had a chance to expand people's horizons and young lesbians' hope and self-esteem, and she chose not to," Sullivan wrote on Tuesday.

It is sad that such a high achiever and courageous explorer should be forced to keep her sexuality hidden for so long.

Ride (pictured left) passed away this week at age 61 after a battle with pancreatic cancer and now more is coming out about her accomplished partner Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy (pictured right), a professor emerita at San Diego State University and chief operating officer and executive vice president of Ride’s foundation, Sally Ride Science

Like Ride, O’Shaughnessy was also interested in science from an early age.

She earned bachelors and masters degrees in biology from Georgia State University, taught college biology and eventually earned a doctorate degree in school psychology from the University of California, Riverside.

She has written nine children’s science books and helped found Sally Ride Science “because of her long-standing commitment to science education and her recognition of the importance of supporting girls' interests in science," according to the foundation’s website.