On the recordJuly 25, 2012
I know that you and all of our colleagues will want to join me today in paying tribute to Dr. Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, who died peacefully on Monday at her home in San Diego, CA. Sally Ride was 61 years old. Dr. Ride was a physicist, an astronaut, a science writer, and the president and CEO of Sally Ride Science, a nonprofit company dedicated to realizing her lifelong passion for motivating young people to stick with their interests in science and to consider pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Sally Ride was born and grew up in Encino, CA. As a young girl, she was encouraged by her parents to pursue her two passionate interests: science and sports. At Stanford University, she studied physics, astrophysics, and English literature while becoming the school's number one women's tennis player. When asked what had made her choose science over tennis, she joked, ``A bad forehand.'' In 1977, as she was about to complete her Ph.D. in physics, Sally read that NASA was looking for astronauts and, for the first time, was allowing women to apply. From a group of 8,000 applicants, NASA selected 29 men and 6 women--including Sally Ride--as astronaut candidates in January 1978. The following year, she qualified for assignment on a space shuttle flight crew. On June 18, 1983, Sally Ride made history as the first American woman in space, part of a 147-hour mission aboard the shuttle Challenger.…
