Sally Ride, the first U.S. female astronaut to fly in space, died July 23 at the age of 61 from pancreatic cancer. First launching on the Challenger space shuttle in 1983, Ride has become an enduring inspiration to people everywhere, particularly women working in science and engineering.
Ride’s place as the first American female astronaut was a long time coming. As far back as the Mercury program, NASA considered female astronaut candidates but the agency did not take the idea very seriously. Ride joined NASA in 1978, in the first astronaut class to include women, and trained for five years. Prior to her deployment on the Challenger mission, she endured sexist questions from reporters, shrugging them off by saying, “It’s too bad this is such a big deal. It is too bad our society isn’t further along.”
via Wired
