Sally Ride, First American Woman In Space, Dead At 61

Sad news. The first American woman to travel into space has succumbed to cancer. From NPR:

In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space. She blasted off aboard Challenger, culminating a long journey that started in 1977 when the Ph.D candidate answered an ad seeking astronauts for NASA missions.

Ride died today in La Jolla, Calif. after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her company said on its website.

I can remember her traveling to space being a very big story when I was a young child. It was just a few years before the Challenger Disaster in 1986 and she was also the youngest American ever to go to space at that time. My thoughts are with her family.