Sally Ride, the first American woman to ever travel into space, died Monday at the age of 61, as reported by the Associated Press. Ride, who had been battling
pancreatic cancer for 17 months, was announced dead via her own website, sallyridescience.com. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia)
“Sally was a physicist, the first American woman to fly in space, a science writer, and the president and CEO of Sally Ride Science,” according to the site.
Specifically, Ride broke her way into the history books on June 18, 1983. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center and NASA website note that she was a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She also went back up on the STS 41-G, which launched from the same location on October 5, 1984.
Ride later joined the faculty at UCSD and founded her own company, Sally Ride Science, to pursue her passion of motivating girls and young women to pursue careers in math, science, and technology. With her ground-breaking and influential background, she most certainly succeeded in doing just that.
She also published five science books for children, has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and Astronaut Hall of Fame, received the Jefferson Award for Public service, and owns numerous other honors and awards.
Personally, Sally Ride leaves behind Tam O’Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years, as well as her mother, sister, niece and nephew.
For more information about pancreatic cancer,
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Cited Sources"Sally Ride Died Peacefully."
Sally Ride Science. N.p., 23 July 2012. Web. 23 July 2012. <www.sallyridescience.com>.
"Astronaut Bio: Sally K. Ride."
Astronaut Bio: Sally K. Ride. N.p., July 2006. Web. 23 July 2012. <http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/ride-sk.html>.
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