Sally Ride Would Have Been 67 Today

Tweet

Over the past couple of nights, my parents and I have enjoyed listening to an interview with Bob Crippen, veteran of four space shuttle missions, distinguishable of having been the pilot on the shuttle's very first flight. I have mentioned this in another post, but my dad worked on the shuttle's fuel tank during that era, these earlier shuttle missions are close to home. I just now realized that Sally Ride, America's first female astronaut born May 26, 1951, would have been 67 today. Sally tragically passed away on July 23, 2012 from pancreatic cancer. I can recall her saying in interviews that she had wanted to pull a John Glenn and call NASA when she was 70 and see if they'd take her into space one last time. "If you send an old man, you ought to be able to send an old woman," she said. Sadly, she never got that chance. About the last decade or so of her life was dedicated to her company, Sally Ride Science, which was dedicated to providing opportunities for middle school girls interested in STEM fields. Of her legacy, she said, "I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way in order to achieve her goals." Here's a video of the launch of that historic flight: