Official Trailer for Doc ‘Sally’ About Pioneering US Astronaut Sally Ride
by Alex Billington
May 2, 2025
Source: YouTube
“If more little girls grew up with an interest in science, like we did, the world would be a better place.” Indeed. National Geographic has revealed an official trailer for a documentary titled Sally, about astronaut Dr. Sally Ride. This premiered to great reviews at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. And it will be out to watch streaming on NatGeo / Disney+ / Hulu starting in June. I highly recommend watching! It’s especially informative and fascinating and inspiring. Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure, she carried a secret… Revealing the romance and sacrifices of their 27 years together, Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, tells the full story of this complicated and iconic astronaut for the first time. Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Cristina Costantini. The film also features interviews with tennis champion & close friend to Ride, Billie Jean King; Sally’s sister, Bear Ride; and mother, Carol Joyce Ride, and more of NASA’s class of 1978: Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, John Fabian, Steve Hawley. It’s an excellent doc and I’m glad it’ll be ready to watch it soon.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Cristina Costantini’s doc film Sally, direct from Nat Geo’s YouTube:
“I can’t recall the exact moment that Sally Ride first captured my imagination, but I know that I’ve been obsessed with her story from a very young age. I was drawn to telling the story of a trailblazing woman fighting for respect in a male-dominated world. But above all, I wanted to explore the beautiful, unknown love story between Sally and Tam O’Shaughnessy. Their enduring relationship was kept secret from the public for 27 long years. Our film celebrates the Sally we all knew through her accomplishments and, for the first time, pays homage to the one we never could know.” –Director Cristina Costantini
As the first American woman to travel into space (in 1983), Dr. Sally Ride became a household name. Her groundbreaking achievements were celebrated in the mainstream media, yet much of her personal life remained a mystery. Through incredible archival footage, we watch both Ride’s exhilarating trajectory and also her struggles to be taken seriously as a scientist and astronaut in a time of rampant, unvarnished sexism and homophobia. Very private and reluctant to be seen as anything but a serious colleague by her peers, Sally was not open about her relationships with women; to come out then was to risk everything she’d worked for professionally. Sally is a documentary feature film directed by acclaimed doc filmmaker Cristina Costantini, director of the doc films Science Fair, Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado, and Own the Room previously, and episodes of the TV series “Home” and “Science Fair” recently. Produced by Jon Bardin, Lauren Cioffi, Dan Cogan, and Cristina Costantini. This initially premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. NatGeo debuts Costantini’s Sally doc streaming on National Geographic on June 16th, 2025, and also on Disney+ starting on June 17th this summer. Want to watch?