Who was Sally Ride’s husband? All about Steven Hawley as partner Tam O’Shaughnessy discusses life-long relationship with astronaut

A new documentary, titled "Sally", based on the life of astronaut Sally Ride, who was previously married to fellow astronaut Steven Hawley, is gearing up for a release on Nat Geo on 16 June. In the documentary, a lesser-known detail about her life has also been revealed. According to People Magazine, Sally Ride, who was a private person, was in a relationship with Tam O'Shaughnessy, her partner for twenty-seven years.

Sally Ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy had long been rumored to have been together, but their relationship had never been confirmed until her death. According to People Magazine, the pair had known each other since childhood but developed a romantic relationship after Sally Ride's divorce from her husband Steven Hawley in 1987.

More about Steven Hawley, as Sally Ride's partner, opens up about her decades-long relationship with the astronaut until her death

The documentary, "Sally," based on the life of Sally Ride, who was the first American woman to travel to space, previously premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January. In an interview with People Magazine, Tam O'Shaughnessy recalled how Sally Ride gave her partner permission to go public with their relationship in the event of her death. She said:

"Ten days before she died, I asked her how I should be to the public. I was holding sort of a public celebration of her life, and then a national tribute at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. And it was like, ‘So who am I?’"

She further added:

"Our friends and family knew, and people guessed. It didn’t feel honest. She told me, you decide what you want to say, how open you want to be about our relationship. We had a wonderful relationship from the time we were kids until we became lovers. I think it's something to be proud of.”

Sally Ride, who was the youngest American astronaut to travel to space, married Steven Hawley in July 1982 in a private ceremony attended by their closest friends and family. They had previously met when they were selected as part of the NASA Astronaut Group 8. Sally Ride and Steven Hawley were married for five years, until their divorce in 1987.

Steven Hawley, who is currently the Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kansas, was born in Ottawa, Kansas, on 12 December 1951. He later completed his Bachelor's degree at the University of Kansas and later pursued a PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz. In a 2015 interview with Chandra X-Ray Observatory, a blog run by Harvard University, Steven Hawley talked about who inspired him to pursue his passion for astronomy. He said:

"I wanted to be astronomer since I was very young. My grandfather taught physics at a small college in Kansas. He used to say, "In physics, you learn how to think." In astronomy you can learn how the universe works just by looking. And I was drawn to become an astronaut NASA, because NASA is a great organization because they try to do things that have never been done before."

He also spoke about the surreal experience of looking at Earth from space for the first time. He said:

"Not in any fundamental way. By the time I got there, I felt that I knew what to expect from talking with astronauts who had already flown. I will always remember the first view I had of the Earth when we achieved orbit on my first mission. I was surprised at how identifiable the continents were based on the color, terrain or other features that you could see from space. After some experience observing the Earth, I could tell where we were over the world just by looking at what I could see on the ground. However, most of my missions launched due east so most of the ground track was over water."

Steven Hawley, who retired from NASA in 2008, later married Eileen M. Keegan. In his interview, he also shared what he has done since then. He said:

"After STS-93, I took over the space science group at Johnston Space Flight Center. In 2008, I went back to the University of Kansas to become a professor of physics and astronomy. I also direct the Engineering Physics program. One of my goals for the future is to get all of our HST data and, hopefully, determine the nature of a weird emission-line object that I discovered before I joined NASA. It was a goal after I returned to KU to be the only person to have worked on HST as an astronaut and also as an astronomer. I haven't decided for sure but after I retire from KU I may write a book about my experiences as a NASA astronaut and also as a manager.

Following Sally Ride's death in 2012 from pancreatic cancer, Steven Hawley later released a statement praising her dedication to her work. In the statement, obtained by Space News, he said:

"Sally [Ride] was a very private person who found herself a very public persona. It was a role in which she was never fully comfortable. I was privileged to be a part of her life and be in a position to support her as she became the first American woman to fly in space.

In her interview with People Magazine, Tam O'Shaughnessy also spoke about how emotional it was to talk about her relationship with Sally Ride. She said:

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“When I was describing my relationship with Sally, and especially when Sally got sick, I got teary-eyed, and it just got me all the way through to my heart and guts. And that was a little bit of a surprise.”

According to People Magazine, the documentary shall also be available for streaming on Disney+ from 17 June.

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