Apparently we hardly knew thee, Sally.
Ms. Sally Ride was the first American women in space, and at 32, was also the youngest American ever in space. She, while holding degrees in physics and astrophysics from Stanford, answered an ad in the newspaper from NASA, to become an astronaut.
She was a trailblazing women in the space industry, and an inspiration for the ladies everywhere. She rode on the Challenger and later sat on the investigating panel looking into the Challenger accident. She was also the only person to be on both the investigative teams studying both the Challenger and the Columbia disaster in 2003.
She switched from physics to engineering and developed one of the mechanical arms that the shuttles used in their central bays to unload payloads.
That's really just too little information to celebrate a lady I looked up to when I was young and still had plans to be an astronaut. One of the things that bothered a segment of society that would have liked to have been able to have discussed and celebrated specifically was that Dr. Ride was lesbian, and after her divorce she lived with her partner for 27 years.
That information was not made public until the second to last paragraph in her official obituary. She obviously valued privacy more than being a hero to the GLBT segment, which was her prerogative. Besides, what does it matter anyway?
Ride, Sally, Ride!
You'll be missed.
I was depressed to read about Sally's passing... she showed that girls/women could do anything.. I do believe that she was entitled to her privacy but like you I don't understand why it should matter...
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