'Forever Sally': Postal Service honors first American woman in space

Nearly 35 years after her pioneering first launch from Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday unveiled a Forever stamp paying tribute to the late Sally Ride.

At 7:33 a.m. on June 18, 1983, Ride blasted off with four other NASA astronauts aboard the shuttle Challenger to become the first American woman in space.

Ride, who died in 2012, also is remembered as a physicist, author and education advocate whose company, Sally Ride Science, encouraged girls to study science, technology, engineering and math.

“Sally Ride’s history-making journey has made it easier for young girls to one day dream of being an astronaut, a physicist, an engineer, or a mathematician,” said Kristin Seaver, chief information officer and executive vice president of the Postal Service, during a ceremony at the University of California, San Diego, where Ride was a physics professor. “But today, girls don’t just dream. Because of trailblazers like Sally Ride, they have been empowered to do.”

The stamp designed by artist Paul Salmon features a colorful portrait of Ride smiling in a blue flight suit next to a launching shuttle.

“That is an amazing stamp,” said Tam O’Shaughnessy, Ride’s partner and co-founder of Sally Ride Science. “It captures Sally’s warm smile, and that mischievous little twinkle in her eyes.”

Ride herself collected stamps from a young age, and had previously been featured on stamps in at least two other countries.

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With her historic 1983 flight, “We had a new, exciting role model, a “she-ro,” said tennis legend Billie Jean King. “Sally Ride made science cool.”

Ride was one of six women selected in NASA’s astronaut class of 1978, the first to accept women and minorities. She later became the only person to serve on the investigation boards for both the Challenger and Columbia shuttle disasters.

Ride’s example “helped me believe that maybe I wasn’t completely crazy in trying to become an astronaut myself,” said Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space, who will soon retire as the director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“She did such a superb job during her mission that it wasn’t really a question after that if a woman could do the job,” said Ochoa. “It made it easier for the rest of the women in her class to get assigned a flight, and for all the women who were subsequently selected to the astronaut program.”

Forever stamps remain equal in value to the Postal Services current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.

Rocket Lab considering Cape launch pad

As it prepares for its first commercial launch of small satellites from New Zealand, Rocket Lab is in discussions with Space Florida and the Air Force's 45th Space Wing about potential launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"Rocket Lab is very interested in coming out," Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith, the Wing commander, confirmed in response to a question recently at the Missile, Space and Range Pioneers' spring banquet in Cocoa Beach. "Firefly (Aerospace) may be interested as well."

Monteith said Launch Complex 20, which is located between United Launch Alliance's Delta IV pad and Blue Origin's planned New Glenn pad, is a possible destination for the companies.

"I think I can fit them in between a couple of my big programs, which will again increase our launch manifest," he said.

An Air Force map also identifies Launch Complexes 15, 16 and the state-run 46, as well as pad 39C at Kennedy Space Center, as possible sites for small satellite launchers including Rocket Lab, Firefly, Rocket Crafters and Vector Launch.

"We are actively in discussions on bringing small launch vehicles (to the Cape)," said Monteith. "And the good news is the National Reconnaissance Office wants to go that path as well, which will encourage growth and acceptance across the U.S. government."

After two test flights, Rocket Lab is targeting the third launch of its Electron rocket from New Zealand during 14-day window between June 23 to July 6. Carrying multiple payloads from customers including Spire Global and GeoOptics, Rocket Lab has dubbed the mission "It's Business Time."

“Small satellites are playing an increasingly important role in providing crucial services that benefit millions of people on Earth," said founder and CEO Peter Beck. "Frequent access to orbit is the key to unlocking the potential for these satellites, and Rocket Lab is the only small launch provider currently enabling this access.”

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SpaceTeamGo.

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