Sally Ride, 1st American Woman In Space, Dead At 61 The first
female American astronaut, Sally Ride, has succumbed to cancer.
Ride was age 61. She had battled pancreatic cancer for 17
months. According to her website, SallyRideScience.com, her
death was peaceful. Ride was selected by NASA as an astronaut
candidate in 1978. She flew on the space shuttle Challenger for
STS-7 in 1983. Her second and final flight was 1984. She retired
from NASA in 1987. She would later become a professor of
physics, director of the California Space Institute and founder
of a self-named company dedicated to encouraging young people to
study science. President Barack Obama is calling her a national
hero and a "powerful role model". In a statement, the president
says Ride "inspired generations of young girls to reach for the
stars" and "fought tirelessly to help them get there by
advocating for a greater focus on science and math" in the
nation's schools. "The space community, teachers and students
around the world have lost a great