The queer icon will be starring as Sally Ride in the new series The Challenger
BY RAI POWELL, IMAGE BY DREAMSTIME
Kristen Stewart has been cast in her first ever lead television role and we couldn’t be more excited about it. KStew will be taking on the role of lesbian astronaut and physicist Sally Ride – the first American woman to fly in space.
The Challenger will chart follow NASA’s efforts to diversify its pilots and crew for the space shuttle program. Sally Ride, who amazingly has the middle name Kristen (fate?), was selected as a mission specialist astronaut with NASA Astronaut Group 8, the first class of NASA astronauts to include women and minority astronauts.
After helping to develop the Space Shuttle’s robotic arm, Sally flew into space on the Space Shuttle Challenger STS-7 mission. She made history by not only being the first American woman in space but also the youngest American astronaut to have flown in space and the first member of the LGBTQIA community to fly in space!
The Challenger shuttle was tragically destroyed in 1986 when it blew apart 73 seconds into its ascent, killing all seven members of the crew. Sally then became the only astronaut to become part of the investigation into the disaster. She identified the problem, discovering that the O-rings became stiff at low temperatures and caused the explosion.
Big Swing Productions’ Kyra Sedgwick told Deadline: “[Kristen] has never done television, but when she read this, she became obsessed with telling the story of Sally Ride from her own unique perspective. She’s so compelling and was so rabid about telling this story about an American hero who had to hide who she was, at that time. Who better to play Sally Ride than one of the great actors of her generation?”
The series will be released in proximity to the 40th anniversary of the Challenger disaster, meaning we won’t be seeing Stewart on our screens as Sally Ride until 2026, but we’re sure it will be more than worth the wait.
DIVA magazine celebrates 30 years in print in 2024. If you like what we do, then get behind LGBTQIA media and keep us going for another generation. Your support is invaluable.
