Events

The ASP is excited to cap off Pride month in the Bay Area, California, with a special FREE virtual screening of the new National Geographic Documentary Film, SALLY.

Post-film, join us for a special ASP-hosted discussion with guests:

o Cady Coleman, former NASA Astronaut
o Shihadah Saleem, New York Hall of Science
o Vivian White, Astronomical Society of the Pacific
o Host: Summer Ash, Science Communicator

ABOUT THE FILM:

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 for the first time of this complicated and iconic astronaut.

POST-FILM DISCUSSION PANELISTS:

CADY COLEMAN:

Cady Coleman is a former NASA Astronaut and a retired US Air Force Colonel with more than 180 days in space, accumulated during two space shuttle missions and a six-month expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) as the Lead Robotics and Lead Science officer. Cady served in a variety of roles within the Astronaut Office, including Chief of Robotics, and lead astronaut for integration of supply ships from NASA’s commercial partners. Before retiring from NASA, she led open-innovation and public-private partnership efforts for NASA’s Chief Technologist. A popular public speaker and media consultant, she also serves as a research affiliate to MIT’s Media Lab. She is a regular contributor for space exploration news and co-hosted Arizona State University’s Mission: Interplanetary podcast.
An amateur flute player, while orbiting Earth in the International Space Station, she famously interrupted her astronaut duties to perform a “Space Duet” with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull. Also, of cultural interest, Cady coached actress Sandra Bullock from the International Space Station in preparation for Bullock’s astronaut role in the movie Gravity.
Cady’s book, Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change, has garnered praise from a wide range of thought leaders for its candid stories and widely-applicable insights. She and her family were recently featured in two documentaries, PBS’s The Longest Goodbye, and The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station.

SHIHADAH SALEEM

Shihadah Saleem is currently the Director of Youth Programs and Pathways at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) in Queens, NY. She works with a diverse and dedicated team of people to provide NYC high school and college students with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) focused workforce and youth development opportunities through NYSCI's Science Career Ladder, Explainer program, and free teen events. Shihadah co-founded GOALS (Greater Opportunities Advancing Leadership and Science) for Girls at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum; the first all-girl free summer program in New York City, provided middle and high school girls, mentors, staff and diverse organizations fun and educational ways to explore the rich interconnectedness in STEM. Shihadah is a committed board member of the National Girls Collaborative Project and co-chair of the STEM PUSH Network's Steering Committee. She loves singing, dancing, hanging with family and friends, gaming on her XBOX, and cool fashion and beauty!

VIVIAN WHITE:

In 2006, Vivian volunteered with the ASP through Project ASTRO and fell hard for astronomy education while finishing her degree in physics. She is now currently the Director of Free Choice Learning, administering the Eclipse Ambassadors Off the Path program and the Night Sky Network (NSN). A community of more than 425 amateur astronomy clubs across the country, NSN has been supporting club outreach and events with an interactive website and webinars since 2004. She designs astronomy activities and demos specifically for informal settings, working with citizen scientists, Girl Scouts, Tibetan monks, undergraduate students, and many others to expand the ways we learn astronomy out of school. Beyond the night sky, her passions include pottery, poetry, and social justice. She can often be found building something outlandish with her kid out of found materials.

SUMMER ASH:

Summer Ash is an astrophysicist, rocket scientist, and freelance science communicator. She has studied mechanical and aerospace engineering, astrophysics, and radio astronomy. After academia, Summer transitioned to education and outreach and has worked for the World Science Festival, Columbia University, and the Very Large Array (VLA) at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). Her written work has been published online in The Atlantic, Smithsonian, Scientific American, Atlas Obscura, Slate, Nautilus Magazine, SyFy.com, and Now.Space. She has hosted videos for NBC.com, Science Forward at CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's (NRAO) Baseline video series. She moderated Virtual Astro Live for the Intrepid Air & Space Museum 2020 - 2023 and was the "In-House Astrophysicist" for The Rachel Maddow Show 2009 - 2016. Summer is also a consultant for the Science & Entertainment Exchange, an arm of the National Academies of Science. She enjoys Jupiter, Orion, supermassive black holes and advocating for accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion across all STEM fields.

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From National Geographic Documentary Films, SALLY is directed by Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker Cristina Costantini.

Winner - Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, Sundance Film Festival, 2025

Run-time: 103 mins
Rating: TV-14
Directed, produced and written by: Cristina Costantini
Distributed by: National Geographic Documentary Films