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Sally Ride, first US woman in space, dies at 61

Dunya News

Sally Ride, first American woman in space, died Monday of pancreatic cancer.

Sally Ride, who blazed trails into orbit as the first American woman in space, died Monday of pancreatic cancer. She was 61.Ride died at her home in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, said Terry McEntee, a spokeswoman for her company, Sally Ride Science. She was a private person and the details of her illness were kept to just a few people, she said.Ride rode into space on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983 when she was 32. After her flight, more than 42 other American women flew in space, NASA said.Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars, President Barack Obama said in a statement.When shuttles started flying frequently with crews of six or seven, astronauts became plentiful and anonymous. Not Ride.People around the world still recognize her name as the first American woman in space, and she took that title seriously even after departing NASA, Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander, said in a statement. She never sought media attention for herself, but rather focused on doing her normally outstanding job.When Ride first launched into space, feminist icons such as Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda were at Kennedy Space Center and many wore T-shirts alluding to the pop song with the refrain of the same name: Ride, Sally Ride.NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said Ride broke barriers with grace and professionalism and literally changed the face of Americas space programme.The nation has lost one of its finest leaders, teachers and explorers, he said in a statement.Ride was a physicist, writer of five science books for children and president of her own company. She had also been a professor of physics at the University of California in San Diego.