Sally Ride, first U.S. woman in space, dies

Astronaut Dr. Sally Ride talks in 2010 about her experiences in space.

Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman to travel into space, died on Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, according to her organization, Sally Ride Science, in San Diego. She was 61.

Ride, a physicist, blasted off in the U.S. space shuttle “Challenger” on June 18, 1983.

“Sally’s historic flight into space captured the nation’s imagination and made her a household name,” Sally Ride Science said in a statement.