Barack Obama

An amazing woman, Irish.

Later Years

After NASA, Ride became the director of the California Space Institute at the University of California, San Diego, as well as a professor of physics at the school in 1989. In 2001, she started her own company to create educational programs and products known as Sally Ride Science to help inspire girls and young women to pursue their interests in science and math. Ride served as president and CEO.

Death and Legacy

For her contributions to the field of science and space exploration, Ride received many honors, including the NASA Space Flight Medal and the NCAA's Theodore Roosevelt Award. She was also inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

On July 23, 2012, Sally Ride died at the age of 61, following a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She will always be remembered as a pioneering astronaut who went where no other woman had gone before.

http://www.biography.com/people/sally-ride-9458284