Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, had died. According to her website, the 61-year-old passed away peacefully today after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. A physicist, former NASA astronaut, science writer, and most recently, businesswoman, Ride is most famous for her voyage on the Challenger shuttle, which launched on June 18, 1982. A statement from Sally Ride Science, the company she founded, is after the jump.
