Some areas of our site may require the use of Macromedia Flash or Adobe Acrobat Reader. Other browsers and operating systems may work effectively; however, we do not test against them and therefore your experience may vary. We regularly monitor and test browsers to ensure the highest security standards.
Story highlights. 1  Sally Ride earned four degrees from Stanford University; she was an author. 2  President Barack Obama hails Ride as a national hero. 3  The former astronaut dies after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer; she was 61. 4  NASA: Ride broke barriers ... and literally changed the face of America's space program.
When she was 32, Ride blasted off on the STS-7 mission of the space shuttle Challenger, breaking through the highest glass ceiling for U.S. women to date. During her historic mission, which deployed two communications satellites, Ride also became the first woman to use the shuttle's robotic arm in space.