It’s been 42 years since Sally Ride made history as the first woman to travel to space, and more than ten years since her passing in 2012. Now, director Cristina Costantini’s (Karol G: Tomorrow Was Beautiful, Mucho Mucho Amor, Science Fair) documentary about this pioneering female astronaut, Sally, is launching for home viewers.
The documentary, which runs for two hours and 15 minutes, explores Ride’s life with insights from Tam O’Shaughnessy, her life partner. O’Shaughnessy not only features in the film but also takes on the role of executive producer. Sally, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 28, highlights the relationship between Ride and O’Shaughnessy, which they had kept secret from the public before Ride’s passing.
In the documentary’s trailer, O’Shaughnessy, 73, remarks, “Sally risked everything to make history. But revealing our relationship to the world was a risk she couldn’t take.”
O’Shaughnessy, who is a writer and former professional tennis player, also told People that she had asked Ride “ten days before she died” in 2012 about how she “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 recalled. “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.”
Per The New Yorker, O’Shaughnessy made their relationship known after writing herself into Ride’s obituary. According to the outlet, the two co-founded the nonprofit Sally Ride Science in 2001, and also joined forces on writing children’s books together before Ride’s passing.
While Sally had its linear cable premiere on National Geographic on Monday night (June 16), the documentary is now available to stream. Here’s how to watch Sally.
How to watch Sally (2025):
The documentary is streaming on both Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.
If you’re new to Hulu, you can get started with a 30-day free trial on the streamer’s basic (with ads) plan. After the trial period, you’ll pay $9.99/month. If you want to upgrade to Hulu ad-free, it costs $18.99/month.
If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the Disney+ Bundles, all of which include Hulu. These bundles start at $10.99/month for ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and goes up to $29.99/month for Disney+, Hulu, and Max, all ad-free.
