'Sally was very good at keeping secrets': How America's first woman in space hid the fact she was a lesbian for 27 years from even close friends and was so traumatized by fame that she sought psychiatric help. 1  Sally Ride became America's first woman in space in 1983, aged 32. But the 'fiercely private' person struggled to deal with the fame when she returned to earth. Her five-year marriage ended and she left NASA in 1987. It was only after Ride's death in 2012, that her partner revealed that the pair had been lesbian lovers.