Photos: Sally Ride, First Woman In Space

Posted Jul 23, 2012

Sally Ride, America’s first female astronaut, has died at age 61.

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This NASA file photo dated June 1983 shows America's first woman astronaut Sally Ride, as she communicates with ground controllers from the flight deck during the six-day space mission of the Challenger. Ride, the first US woman to fly in space, died on July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced. She was 61. Ride first launched into space in 1983, on the seventh US space shuttle mission. AFP PHOTO/NASA/HO
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Photo dated January 1983 shows US Space Shuttle Challenger STS-7 mission crew: Commander Robert Crippen (C, first row), pilot Frederick Hauck (R), Sally Ride (L), John Fabian and Norman Thagard, mission specialists. Ride, the first US woman to fly in space, died on July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced. She was 61. Ride first launched into space in 1983, on the seventh US space shuttle mission. AFP PHOTO/NASA/HO
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Photo dated January 1983 shows NASA astronaut Sally Ride at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Ride, the first US woman to fly in space, died on July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced. She was 61. Ride first launched into space in 1983, on the seventh US space shuttle mission. AFP PHOTO/NASA/HO
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FILE - In this June 1983 photo released by NASA, astronaut Sally Ride, a specialist on shuttle mission STS-7, monitors control panels from the pilot's chair on the shuttle Columbia flight deck. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/NASA, File)
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Sally Ride prepares for a simulated ejection during a training exercise at the astronaut survival training school at Vance Air Force Base, Okla., in a Aug. 28, 1978 handout photo. Ride, who was the first American woman in space, flying on the shuttle Challenger in 1983, and on a second mission in 1984, died on Monday, July 23, 2012, at her home in San Diego. She was 61. (NASA via The New York Times)
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In this June 1983 file photo provided by NASA, astronaut Sally K. Ride, STS-7 mission specialist, communicates with ground controllers from the mid-deck of the earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/NASA, File)
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FILE - In this Aug. 29, 1983 file photo, astronaut Sally Ride poses at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Caneveral, Fla. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/Brian Russell, File)
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Sally Ride works in the mission operations control room during a STS-2 simulation session at Johnson Space Center in Houston, in this July of 1981 handout photo. Ride, who was the first American woman in space, flying on the shuttle Challenger in 1983, and on a second mission in 1984, died on Monday, July 23, 2012, at her home in San Diego. She was 61. (NASA via The New York Times)
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FILE - This undated file photo released by NASA shows astronaut Sally Ride. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/NASA, File)
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FILE - This undated photo released by NASA shows astronaut Sally Ride. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/NASA, File)
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Photo dated September 16,2010 shows US President Barack Obama greeting former astronaut Sally Ride in the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House in Washington. Ride, the first US woman to fly in space, died on July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced. She was 61. Ride first launched into space in 1983, on the seventh US space shuttle mission. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GettyImages
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This NASA handout photo shows astronaut Sally Ride in June 1983 at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Ride, the first US woman to fly in space, died on July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her foundation announced. She was 61. Ride first launched into space in 1983, on the seventh US space shuttle mission. AFP PHOTO/NASA/HO
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Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, is pictured following an event on science, technology, engineering and math education initiatives by the Obama administration at the White House in Washington, in this November 23, 2009 file photo. Ride died July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. REUTERS/Jason Reed/Files
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In this Oct. 7, 2009 file photo, former Astronaut Sally Ride speaks to members of the media as NASA personnel set-up astronomy equipment on the South Lawn of the White House in preparation for an event with the President and the First Lady, in Washington. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
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In this July 28, 2009 file photo, former astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, with Jeffrey Greason in the background, comments during a public meeting of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, in League City, Texas. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Brett Coomer, File)
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Dr. Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman to travel into space, speaks to the media at the San Diego Aerospace Museum February 7, 2003 in San Diego, California. Ride gave her condolences to the families of the lost space shuttle Columbia astronauts as well as spoke about the future of the space program. Ride also mentioned a science festival that she sponsors for fifth and eight grade girls known as the Sally Ride Science Club. The next club festival is scheduled for February 22, 2003 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
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Former NASA astronaut Sally Ride died, Monday, July 23, 2012, after her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. In this 1983 file photo, Ride participated in a fire training exercise before her first space shuttle launch. (Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)
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Former NASA astronaut Sally Ride died, Monday, July 23, 2012, after her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. In this 2003 file photo, Ride smiles during induction ceremonies for the Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida Saturday June 21, 2003.(Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)
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Former NASA astronaut Sally Ride died, Monday, July 23, 2012, after her battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. In this 2003 file photo, Ride talks to the media at the University of Central Florida. (Jessica Mann/Orlando Sentinel/MCT)