Photos: Sally Ride dies July 23, 2012

Posted Jul 23, 2012

Sally Kristen Ride was an American physicist and astronaut. Ride joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman—and then-youngest American, at 32—to enter space. In 1987 she left NASA to work at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control. She died of pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012.

Ride was one of 8,000 people to answer an advertisement in a newspaper seeking applicants for the space program.[5] As a result, she joined NASA in 1978. During her career, Ride served as the ground-based Capsule Communicator (CapCom) for the second and third Space Shuttle flights (STS-2 and STS-3) and helped develop the Space Shuttle’s robot arm. On June 18, 1983, she became the first American woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7.

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Astronaut Sally Ride, who was a member of the Space Shuttle 7 crew in June 1983, poses with "Sesame Street" character Grundgetta on the set of the children's televison show in New York City, Friday, Jan. 7, 1984. Ride appears in a segment for the program in which she teaches children about the letter 'A,' as in astronaut. (AP Photot/Dave Pickoff)
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These five astronauts, the first five-member Space Shuttle crew, will be aboard the second flight of Challenger (STS-7), Scheduled for June, 1983. Astronaut Robert Crippen, center front, is commander. Other members are Frederick Hauck, right, pilot, Sally K. Ride, John Fabian and Norman Thagard, mission specialists. (AP Photo )
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Astronaut Sally K. Ride, STS-7 mission specialist, communicates with ground controllers from the mid-deck of the earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger in June 1983. She has just opened one of the large lockers during the operation and monitoring of the continuous flow electrophoresis system (CFES) experiment at left edge. (AP Photo/NASA)
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Space shuttle Challenger crewmember Sally Ride waves to reporters as the crew leaves in morning on Saturday, June 18, 1983 to board the shuttle at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Shuttle commander Robert Crippen is on her right and crewmember John Fabian is partially visible. (AP Photo)
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This photo shows the crew of space shuttle Challenger leaving for boarding at Kennedy Space Center in Florida early morning on June 18, 1983. Sally Ride and Robert Crippen are in front, John Fabian is in the middle and Norm Thagard and Rick Hauck are in the rear. (AP Photo)
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Astronaut Sally Ride is shown at work aboard the space shuttle Challenger, June 18, 1983, as the crew prepared to deploy the ANIK satellite. Ride is the first woman to go into space. (AP Photo/NASA-TV)
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Dr. Sally K. Ride waves to wellwishers after the completion of her historic ride in morning on Friday, June 24, 1983 in Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Ride, America’s first woman in space, landed at Edward AFB with her crewmates after their scheduled landing at Cape Canaveral was scrubbed because of rain. (AP Photo)
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Dr. Sally K. Ride, left, watches as fellow crew members John M. Fabian and Frederick H. Hauck leave the Challenger after its landing, June 24, 1983. (AP Photo)
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The crew of the space shuttle Challenger, seen June 26, 1983, are, from left: crew commander Robert Crippen, pilot Frederick Hauck, mission specialists Sally Ride, John Fabian and Norman Thagard. (AP Photo)
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Space Shuttle astronauts were honored on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday, July 19, 1983 by Sen. Pete Wilson, R-Calif. From left are: Ric Hawk; Bob Crippen; Sally Ride; Wilson; John Fabian and Dr. Norman Thagard. (AP Photo)
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Mayor Ed Koch holds a photo montage of the Space Shuttle Challenger crew which they presented to him on Monday, August 8, 1983 in New York. Astronaut Sally Ride and her four crewmates were presented with keys to the city by Mayor Koch, except that Robert L. Crippen, left, captain of the Challenger flight, was given a "cluster" as well as a key because he received a key earlier, after a 1981 shuttle flight. The key holders are from left: Robert Crippen, Rick Hauck, John Fabian, Mayor Koch, Sally Rice and Norman Thagard. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
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Tennis star Billie Jean King, left, astronaut Sally Ride, center, and Ms. Magazine editor Gloria Steinem are seen during a reception hosted by the Girls Club of America and Ms. Magazine to honor Dr. Sally Ride, in New York, August 10, 1983. (AP Photo)
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Astronaut Sally Ride poses at Kennedy Space Center in Fla., on Aug. 29, 1983. Ride, who was a crew member of the Space Shuttle 7, is at the center to support the crew of Space Shuttle 8 during their launch. (AP Photo/Brian Russell)
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The crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger arrives at the Kennedy Space Center, Oct. 3, 1984. From left: David Leestma, Sally Ride, shuttle pilot Jon A. McBride, Kathy Sullivan and Commander Robert Crippen. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
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Mission specialist Sally Ride, left, floats above the heads of David Leestma, center, and Kathryn Sullivan, Oct. 8, 1984, as she chats with them in the crowded quarters of the Shuttle Challenger. (AP Photo/NASA-TV)
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The Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident arrived at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Feb. 13, 1986 for a two-day stay here. Kennedy Space Center director Richard Smith, right, greets commission chairman William Rogers as he gets off a NASA plane with astronaut and commission member Sally Ride looking on. (AP Photo/Bruce Weaver)
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Astronaut Sally Ride sits in her jet at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, June 16, 1983 in Florida, just after she and four other crew members arrived to prepare for a scheduled on Saturday launch of the space shuttle Challenger. Mr. Ride is the first American female to travel into space. (AP Photo)
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Former Secretary of State William P. Rogers, chairman of the presidential commission investigating the space shuttle Challenger explosion, and astronaut Sally Ride, a member of the commission, examine a cross-section of a solid rocket booster during hearings in Washington, February 11, 1986. (AP Photo/Bob Daugherty)
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Chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident William Rogers, right, and panel member Neil Armstrong, are shown at the start of hearings into the accident, meeting in Washington, Feb. 25, 1986. Astronaut Sally Ride is at right. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
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William Rogers, chairman of the presidential commission investigating the space shuttle Challenger explosion, left, talks with commission member Al Keel, right at the State Department in Washington, Feb. 27, 1986 while astronaut Sally Ride records some notes. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi)
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William P. Rogers, chairman of the presidential commission investigating the space shuttle Challenger explosion, and other panel members, including astronaut Sally Ride, take their place at the start of hearings at the State Department in Washington, March 21, 1986. Other members are, from left: Robert Rummel and Robert Hotz. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma)
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William Rogers, left, chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, swears in members of the commission, Feb. 6, 1986 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. From left are Rogers, Neil Armstrong; Dr. Sally Ride; Robert Rummel; Maj. Gen. Donald Kutyna; Dr. Arthur B.C. Walker, Jr.; Joseph Suher; David Acheson; Richard Feynman; Dr. Albert Wheelon; and Robert Hotz. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart)
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William Rogers, chairman of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, left, swears in members of the commission, Feb. 6, 1986 at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. From left are, Rogers; Neil Armstrong; Dr. Sally Ride; Robert Rummel; Maj. Gen. Donald Kutyna; Dr. Arthur B.C. Walker Jr.; Joseph Sutter; David Acheson; Richard Feynman; Dr. Albert Wheelon; and Robert Hotz. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart)
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Astronaut Sally Ride listens during the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, March 7, 1986. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
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Presidential Commission Chairman William Rogers, left, looks through charts as astronaut Sally Ride, a member of the Presidential Commission on The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident listens to testimony at the Vistors Center at Kennedy Space Center on Friday, March 7, 1986. A TV monitor in the foreground displays an interior view of a building used to house all the debris found from the Space Shuttle. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)