What image first comes to mind when anyone thinks of astronaut Sally Ride? Some conjure the picture of Ride floating in zero gravity in the space shuttle, with a smile on her face holding a headset on her left ear. Or, maybe it is Ride standing alongside the five other women astronauts of the NASA 1978 astronaut class. For many, their knowledge of Sally Ride begins and ends at her NASA career and the title of the first American woman in space. After she retired from NASA, Sally Ride utilized her groundbreaking status to launch a variety of business ventures that would inspire the next generation of astronauts and scientists. Two of these businesses were the website Space.com and the education organization Sally Ride Science. Archival material from the Sally K. Ride Papers, held in the National Air and Space Museum Archives, helps us tell the story of these two business ventures.

From left to right are Shannon W. Lucid, Margaret Rhea Seddon, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Judith A. Resnik, Anna L. Fisher, and Sally K. Ride.

Space.com

In the 1990s, the explosion of the World Wide Web brought about an unprecedented flow of information on every subject imaginable. Everything from movies to cooking to TV shows to finances had one or more dedicated websites to keep people up to date with the latest developments in these subject areas. Yet there was a problem with this abundance of websites: Most of these sites were built by amateurs, whose designs and organization of the informational content left a lot to be desired. In the realm of astronomy and space, this was true as well. As the new millennium was beginning to dawn, Sally Ride, along with a group of astronomy and business professionals (including Lou Dobbs and Rich Zahradnik), came together to develop a website dedicated to covering news related to space and astronomy. The resulting website was Space.com. The impetus for such a website was to take advantage of the internet to create a one-stop shop website that was solely dedicated to space news, entertainment, and education for the public.

First page of the business plan for Space.com; outlining its mission of delivering space-based news, information, entertainment and education for the general populace. NASM.2014.0025-bx019-fd004_002

Additionally, Sally Ride and her business partners took advantage of the historic moments surrounding space exploration in the late 1990s, including Senator John Glenn’s historic Space Shuttle flight and the preparations for the establishment of the International Space Station, to launch Space.com.

Space.com document outlining the historic context of a need for a news website focused solely on space. NASM.2014.0025-bx019-fd004_031

Drawing on these historic milestones, Ride and her business team saw that the public still had an appetite for all things space exploration and knew that a high-quality website dedicated to all things space-related would perfectly satiate that need.

However, identifying the need for a website that focused on all aspects of space was just the first step. In Sally Ride’s own notebooks, she jotted down detailed thoughts and strategies that ranged from website design to software selection to crafting a strategic plan for developing partnerships in the areas of education and science, in an effort to make the website as far reaching as it could be.

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A page from Sally Ride’s own personal notebook outlining strategy for Space.com, specifically, investigating a software program that provides good search function and looking for strategic partners for advertisers/sponsors. NASM.2014.0025-bx020-fd006_005

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Ride’s notes for “Strategic Planning” for Space.com, focusing on development of different site components and developing partnerships in the realms of education and science to make the website be far reaching to the general populace. NASM.2014.0025-bx020-fd006_013

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Sally Ride’s notes on the timeline for developing the Space.com website. NASM.2014.0025-bx020-fd006_014

The results of all the planning paid off for Ride and her team with sponsorships from science organizations and magazines. Discover gave Space.com ad space in their print publications and Sally Ride was named the first president of Space.com. From that position, Sally Ride then created a separate channel within the Space.com site, called SpaceKids to curate kid-specific content related to space and help to inspire the next generation of astronauts and astronomers. Ride’s focus on inspiring kids to take up careers in science would serve her well in her next business venture, Sally Ride Science.

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January 25, 2000, letter from Anthony T. Rallo, from Discover magazine, to Sally Ride on Discover's partnership with Space.com, and the announcement of Space.com’s first ad in Discover magazine. NASM.2014.0025-bx021-fd004_002

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September 21, 1999, press release announcing Sally Ride being named president of Space.com. NASM.2014.0025-bx020-fd008_032

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November 15, 1999, press release on Sally Ride’s announcement of SpaceKids, Space.com’s specific channel for kid-centric content related to space. NASM.2014.0025-bx020-fd008_033

Sally Ride Science

The main gist of entrepreneurship is identifying a need in society and then figuring out a product to meet said need. In the mid-1990s, Ride decided to use her status as the first American woman in space to help close the gender gap in the in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).  Drawing from her experience working on the launch of Space.com, Sally Ride researched the cultural and societal reasons that accounted for girls being less interested in the STEM fields than boys.

A section from 1995 Women in Science (WinS) Meeting Notes discussing one of the reasons for gender gap in science and math. NASM.2014.0025-bx034-fd007_003

Ride parlayed that research into her first science advocacy company Imaginary Lines. In its early presentation materials, Imaginary Lines explicitly laid out the appalling numbers that showed a wide gender gap in the STEM fields and explained why it was necessary for more girls to go into said fields.

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Page one of slideshow from Imaginary Lines, the precursor company to Sally Ride Science, which discusses the need for such a company to encourage more girls to take up STEM fields. NASM.2014.0025-bx035-fd001_001

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Page two of slideshow from Imaginary Lines, the precursor company to Sally Ride Science, which discusses the need for such a company to encourage more girls to take up STEM fields. NASM.2014.0025-bx035-fd001_002

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Page three of slideshow from Imaginary Lines, the precursor company to Sally Ride Science, which discusses the need for such a company to encourage more girls to take up STEM fields. NASM.2014.0025-bx035-fd001_003

Sally Ride knew it was one thing to have an idea, but another to make it a reality. She took extensive notes on how to raise money and get corporate support for her science literacy program, as well as comparing similar organizations in terms of their strengths and weakness in performing science outreach to young girls, in order to develop her own unique company strategy.

A page from one of Sally Ride’s notebooks on ideas to raise money and support for Sally Ride Science. NASM.2014.0025-bx035-fd007_003

The results from all this research would become Sally Ride Science. Founded by Sally Ride, her partner Tam O'Shaughnessy, Karen Flammer, Terry McEntee, and Alann Lopes in 2001, this organization would create teaching packets, posters, and books, as well as sponsor science festivals to inspire young girls to pursue a career in science. In the year 2021, twenty years after its founding, Sally Ride Science continues to create innovative programming to inspire the next generation of scientists.

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Page from Sally Ride Science Marketing and Sponsorship reports on comparing the strength and weakness of other science outreach programs for girls, as well as determining the company strategy for Sally Ride Science. NASM.2014.0025-bx035-fd005_003

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Page from Sally Ride Science Marketing and Sponsorship reports on comparing the strength and weakness of other science outreach programs for girls, as well as determining the company strategy for Sally Ride Science. NASM.2014.0025-bx035-fd005_004

Sally Ride’s ventures into the business world through the establishment of the Space.com website and creating Sally Ride Science, perfectly encapsulates how a landmark figure used her legendary status to give back to the world and make it a better place for all humanity.

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