Sally Ride, the first female astronaut who was the fist U.S. woman to ride the space shuttle into space on June 18, 1983, has died at age 61. She was more than just a physicist, educator, and astronaut. She carried the hopes and aspirations of a generation on the fight, a symbol of the ascent of women into space. She died Monday in La Jolla, California of pancreatic cancer. In her lifetime, she twice visited space, took a leading role in NASA's response to both space shuttle disasters and devoted herself to education. She was seeking to inspire more young women to pursue life in science. "Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars," President Obama said in a statement.
Ride was part of the first class of female astronauts in 1978, which was a turn away from the exclusively male, military pilots of the Apollo era to mission specialists, doctors, and scientists in the space shuttle era. Her launch riveted the nation, the seventh space shuttle trip sent to orbit and the second sent by the space shuttle Challenger.
Ride focused her efforts on education in encouraging girls to pursue a career in science, technology, and engineering which was the most important to her. She refocused her efforts after leaving NASA to teach at the University of California-San Diego. She also founded her own company, Sally Ride Science, which organized camps, festivals, and an academy to inspire children.
To read more about Sally Ride, click on the above link from USAToday.com.
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