Sally Ride, First US Woman in Space, Dies at 61

By: Associated Press

Posted: Mon 5:05 PM, Jul 23, 2012

WASHINGTON -- Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, has died. She was 61.

NASA confirmed her death Monday afternoon and President Barack Obama called her a national hero.

Her office in San Diego said she died of pancreatic cancer.

Ride rode into space on the shuttle Challenger in 1983 when she was 32.

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Sally Ride, First US Woman in Space, Dies at 61

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