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Astronauts

R/V Sally Ride

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
April 13, 2013
Filed under ,

Navy Research Vessel Named After Sally Ride
“Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has announced the names of seven ships. Included is an ocean-class auxiliary general oceanographic research (AGOR) ship, the R/V Sally Ride. Mabus named the future R/V Sally Ride (AGOR 28), which will be a Neil Armstrong-class AGOR ship, to honor the memory of Sally Ride, a professor, scientist and an innovator at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego. Ride was the first woman and also the youngest person in space. She later served as director of NASA’s Office of Exploration. Traditionally, AGORs are named for nationally recognized leaders in exploration and science. The R/V Sally Ride is the first academic research ship to be named in honor of a woman.”
Keith’s note: Obviously the author of this release did not do a full fact check. Sally Ride was not the first woman in space, nor was she the youngest person in space. That said, as the release notes, “the R/V Sally Ride is the first academic research ship to be named in honor of a woman.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

5 responses to “R/V Sally Ride”

  1. Stephen Braham says:
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    “Ride was the first woman and also the youngest person in space.”

    – I think Tereshkova and Titov would disagree, on each count (indeed, in addition to being the first woman in space, Tereshkova was also a lot younger than Ride, but Titov is still the youngest person to ever fly in space).

  2. Sasha_again says:
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    These are quotes from Wikipedia: 
    “Ride joined NASA in 1978 and at the age of 32, became the first American woman to enter into low Earth orbit in 1983.”

    “Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova…. having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963.”

  3. Steve Whitfield says:
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    I think naming this vessel for a woman is a significant step forward.

    As for the mistakes in the article, I think they’re unfortunate but a minor matter.  What’s encouraging is that every knows who SR was — a NASA astronaut.  How many other post -Apollo astronauts can be named by the average non-space-nut person?

    • Paul451 says:
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      “I think naming this vessel for a woman is a significant step forward.”

      Why? Naming ships after women has a long tradition.

      • Steve Whitfield says:
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        Paul,

        I should have been more specific.  It’s the first US Navy academic research ship to be named for a woman.  The international science gang, I’ve been told, is still a bit of an old boys network, and the US Navy guys are no exception.  The US Navy already has a research vessel named for Neil Armstrong, of course.