Who is Sally Ride? Know all about the astronaut mentioned in The Last of Us episode 6

In The Last of Us episode 6, there is a scene where Joel and Ellie are camping on their way to Wyoming. The duo are shown discussing what they would do once the apocalypse comes to an end.

Joel reveals that he'd like to own a ranch, have a bunch of sheep, and be a rancher because sheep are quiet and do what they are told to do, unlike Ellie. Ellie senses his sarcasm and tells him what she wants to do after the world is cured.

She reveals that she wants to become an astronaut. She says she has read everything about them in library books, and even mentions a couple of famous astronauts in the end, adding that her favorite was Sally Ride.

---

Sally Ride is the first American woman to fly in space

Born on May 26, 1951, Sally Ride was an astronaut and physicist from the USA. She was born in LA, California, and joined NASA in 1978. In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, after cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982, who were both Russian.

Sally Ride was a graduate of Stanford University, where she earned multiple degrees. These involved a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature in 1973, a Master of Science degree in physics in 1975, and a Doctor of Philosophy in physics in 1978 for research on the interaction of X-rays with the interstellar medium.

In June 1983, she flew into space on the Space Shuttle Challenger on the STS-7 mission. Two communication satellites were deployed in the mission along with the first Shuttle pallet satellite (SPAS-1). She operated the robotic arm to deploy and bring back the SPAS-1. In 1984, she went to space for the second time. She spent a total of more than 343 hours in space.

After leaving NASA in 1987, Sally Ride worked for two years at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego.

She was married to astronaut Steven Hawley but was in a long-term relationship with former Women's Tennis Association player Tam O'Shaughnessy.

Sally Ride died of pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012. She is the first astronaut known to belong to the LGBTQ+ community.

---

What is The Last of Us about?

HBO's The Last of Us is the network's latest TV phenomenon, which has visibly been breaking all viewership records week after week. It stars Pedro Pascal as, Joel, a goon who is tasked with transporting a 14-year-old girl called Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey. Ellie is special as she is immune to a lethal disease that has eradicated humanity from the face of the planet.

It's believed that her blood could help scientists create a vaccine that could save the planet which has been infected by a deadly fungus called 'Cordyceps'.

The official synopsis of The Last of Us reads:

"Based on the critically acclaimed video game The Last of Us, developed by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation platforms, the story takes place twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival."

The show was created by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, with Carolyn Strauss, Evan Wells, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan, and Rose Lam serving as its executive producers.