In Memoriam - Sally Ride

Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space as well as the youngest American in space, founder of Sally Ride Science, a nationally ranked tennis player in college, and a lesbian, died today after a seventeen-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Dr. Ride was 61. She is survived by her partner of 27 years, Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, who is also the COO and Executive Vice President of Sally Ride Science and a Professor Emerita of School Psychology at San Diego State University, along with her mother, Joyce and sister, Bear.

Sally Kristen Ride, Ph.D., earned her master’s degree and a Ph.D. in physics, went to NASA in 1978 after responding to a newspaper ad, left in 1987 for Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control. She was especially interested in inspiring girls to embrace science, and she was a climate change activist.
A list of Dr. Ride’s accomplishments can be found on her website, along with a photo gallery and her biography.

Editor’s note: To be as accurate and as humanly fair as possible to an American hero and icon, Sally Ride never came out publicly, nor did she ever publicly state she was a lesbian. Her officially obituary released by Sally Ride Science states she was in a 27-year relationship with Dr. Tam O’Shaughnessy, a woman.  This report is from The New Civil Rights Movement.

I've always loved the space program. When Sally Ride became the first woman in space, radio stations all across the Florida Gulf coast were playing "Ride, Sally Ride." It was a wonderful moment.

Here is what ABC News reported: