Submitted by Fox First at Ten on July 23rd
MSNBC.COM - The first American woman to go into space, Sally Ride, died Monday after a 17-month battle against pancreatic cancer, her company said.
Ride made history in 1983 as a crew member on the space shuttle Challenger, breaking the gender barrier for U.S. spaceflight. Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963, but it took another 20 years for NASA to follow suit.
Word of Ride's death came in an announcement from Sally Ride Science, the educational venture she founded after leaving NASA.
President Barack Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, were "deeply saddened" by the news. click here to read more


Comments