Sally Ride, the first American woman to venture into space, passed away today at the age of 61. Sally had been battling pancreatic cancer for 17 months before she passed.
Ride joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman to enter space in 1983 at the age of 32. She left NASA in 1987 to work at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control.
A recipient of the NCAA’s Theodore Roosevelt Award, an inductee in both the National Women’s Hall of Fame and Astronaut Hall of Fame, Ride is an inspiration to women everywhere.