Sally Ride’s partner says astronaut gave her permission to reveal their 27-year relationship on her deathbed

Ride died in 2012 from pancreatic cancer

Sally Ride is best known as the first American woman in space, but a new documentary sheds light on another significant aspect of her life — her secret, decades-long relationship with another woman.

In Sally, which premiered on National Geographic on Monday and will be available on Disney+ from Tuesday, the late astronaut’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, spoke about their hidden relationship that lasted for 27 years.

The couple’s privacy remained that way until 10 days before Ride died in 2012 from pancreatic cancer at age 61.

“10 days before she died, I asked her how I should be to the public,” O’Shaughnessy said in a new interview with People. “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?’”

“Our friends and family knew, and people guessed. It didn’t feel honest,” she continued. “She told me, you decide what you want to say, how open you want to be about our relationship.”O’Shaughnessy admitted in an interview with the Los Angeles Times alongside the documentary’s director, Cristina Costantini, that “the film might be too hard on Sally.”

‘Our friends and family knew, and people guessed. It didn’t feel honest,’ O’Shaughnessy (right) said about the privacy of their relationship (Getty Images)

Due to the secrecy of their friends-to-lovers relationship, the couple only had a few photos together, so the documentary’s director had to rely on actors recreating stories from O’Shaughnessy’s memories.

“The fact of the matter is when Sally and I got together in the mid-‘80s, it was a little dangerous to be open,” O’Shaughnessy told the LA Times. “You could miss out on lots of opportunities with your career, with projects you wanted to be involved in.

“But I think it’s really good for young viewers of the film to see that there were good reasons for Sally and I to not be open to the public,” she added.

The late astronaut’s partner also said she didn’t expect to get as emotional as she sometimes did when filming Sally, saying there were a few times “where I sort of break down.”

“When I was describing my relationship with Sally, and especially when Sally got sick, I got teary-eyed, and it just got me all the way through to my heart and guts,” O’Shaughnessy said. “And that was a little bit of a surprise.”

Sally is out on Disney+ on June 17