Sally Ride

Yesterday we learned of the death of a true pioneer in space, Astronaut Sally Ride.

I don't know about Dr. Ride's views on faith or god or she was or was not a theist.

I do know she was the first American woman into space.  She was also the first lesbian and at one time the youngest person that went into space.

I do know she was an inspiration to millions of people, not just girls and women.  I remember when she first went into space I thought to myself that is was kinda sad that this was the 1980s and we still were in a position to have a "First Woman to..." at all.  But as I got older I realized that things were not as far along as I had hoped they would have been.  Plus so few people had gone into space by then and the requirements are so high that few people in general made it.  It took more "First Woman to..."s for Dr. Ride to get that far.

She kept her private life very private and instead focused on her educational efforts like Sally Ride Science.
She flew on two shuttle missions, both on Columbia and she served on both Shuttle disaster commissions.

Dr. Ride was 61.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Ride
Sally Ride Science, set up be her and her partner.  https://www.sallyridescience.com/