Sally Ride, first female Astronaut, passes away @ 61

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18963939

Sally Ride, the first US woman in space, dies aged 61

2012/07/23 18:50 ET

Physicist Sally Ride's reach for the stars began in 1977 when she replied to a Nasa astronauts' job ad

Sally Ride, the first US woman to travel into space, has died aged 61 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced.

"Sally's historic flight into space captured the nation's imagination and made her a household name," Sally Ride Science said in a statement.

She blasted off in the US space shuttle Challenger in June 1983.

Ride was not the first woman in space - that was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in June 1963.

Ride died on Monday in La Jolla, California.

"Her star will always shine brightly"

Charles Bolden Nasa administrator

National hero

In a statement, US President Barack Obama said he was "deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Sally Ride".

"As the first American woman to travel into space, Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model.

Ride was born and grew up in Los Angeles, California, attending Stanford University for master's and doctorate degrees in physics.

According to her foundation, Ride applied to Nasa after seeing an ad in the Stanford student newspaper, calling for scientists and engineers, including women to apply to the astronaut corps.

She became an astronaut in 1978, and went on her first space shuttle mission on board the Challenger in 1983 at the age of 32.

She reached space again the following year, and was scheduled for a third trip when the Challenger space shuttle exploded in 1986.

Following the accident, she served as a member of the presidential commission that investigated the causes of the fatal accident. She also served on a similar board following the Columbia space shuttle accident in 2003.

"Sally Ride broke barriers with grace and professionalism - and literally changed the face of America's space program," Nasa administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement. "She will be missed, but her star will always shine brightly."

After leaving Nasa, Ride became a professor at University of California, San Diego, and served as a science fellow at Stanford University.

She launched Sally Ride Science, which created science programmes and publications for young students, in 2001. She also wrote five children's science books.

Ride is survived by her mother and partner Tam O'Shaughnessy.

RIP, Dr. Ride. Edited July 23, 2012 by Saddle Bronc

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She was quite something

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Edited July 24, 2012 by Calypso