Sally Ride
 

I just received the news that Astronaut Sally ride died today after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

“Sally Ride broke barriers with grace and professionalism - and literally changed the face of America's space program," NASA administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said in a statement.

“She will be missed, but her star will always shine brightly," Bolden said.

Sally was an inspiration for many of us (myself included) as we looked for the opportunity to do something that was beyond our reach. Sally first went to space in 1983 and then followed that again a year later.

Re: Sally Ride
 

A very sad day, Sally Ride inspired me as a little girl. I remember in the second grade doing a book report on one of her biographies and making a model Space Shuttle out of card stock. Her legacy lives on, RIP Ms. Ride.

Re: Sally Ride
 

So sad! My daughters and I had the chance to briefly meet her at Championships at DisneyWorld many years ago. She has been an inspiration to myself, my sister and my daughters not to mention many other women (and men). She was a remarkable lady!

Re: Sally Ride
 

I remember meeting Dr. Ride, at the Disney championships when I was a little kid. She graciously had volunteered to hang out with me for the morning, and by lunch break six-year-old Libby had dragged her by the hand over to my (M.D./Ph.D) father and said, "Daddy, this is Miss Sally. She's a doctor AND and astronaut. YOU'RE just a doctor."

Miss Sally was my very first hero. She's an incredible role model and her legacy will live on.

Re: Sally Ride
 

This is the cutist story I have heard in a long time!

Here is my daugher and Dr Ride.

Re: Sally Ride
 

Yeah. Too young, too soon. Youngest astronaut at the time (age 32).

Rest In Peace.

Re: Sally Ride
 

IIRC she currently is the holder of the youngest US astronaut to be sent to space.

Re: Sally Ride
 

When I first joined LASA Robotics a decade ago, I met a young angry junior who had found inspiration and a sense of belonging with the robotics team. This junior's role model was Sally Ride. We spoke many times about Dr. Ride as a powerful and strong role model who had all the right stuff. We spoke many times about how that role model was able to help an angry young teenager deal with the fact that she was different and wanted to make a difference - and that it was ok to want to build robots and drive them and have dreams and aspirations that embraced science and exploration. This young teenager is now a young woman completing her Master's in Geospatial Emergency Management. She is no longer angry but she is still driven to do good things with her life that make a difference.

I talked to Kate about Dr. Ride's passing and about the talks we had during and after Kate's time on the team. I also asked Kate to share a thought or two with us about then and about now. She said, "The only thoughts I have about that time in my life is that I didn't even know this field existed back then. But robotics and my dreams to be like Dr. Ride led me here. While it's not what I thought I always wanted to do, it is exactly where I should be."

Without leaders like Dr. Ride in the fields of math, science, and technology - there can be no viable and valuable STEM initiatives. These leaders make a huge difference in our world and their time is much too short though their legacies live on.

Kate and I have both been deeply saddened with this news and it has made this special bond between mentor and student even more special as time has passed and the student has become the mentor.

Peace be with you, Sally Ride. Thank you for sharing your dreams.

Jane

Re: Sally Ride
 

Indeed. She wasn't just an astronaut though - she was a physicist whose work was instrumental to the development of NASA. Something I think many people miss out on.

RIP Mrs. Ride and my condolences to her partner Tammy (she came out as lesbian in her obituary).