Sally Ride dead at 61

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Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman to travel into space, died on Monday (July 23) after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, according to her organization, Sally Ride Science.

She was 61 years old.

Ride broke new ground for American woman when she blasted off in the U.S. space shuttle "Challenger" at the age of 32 with four male crewmates on June, 1983.

She left NASA in 1987. Two years later, she joined the physics department at the University of California-San Diego and became director of the California Space Institute.

Ride is also the founder of the science education company, Sally Ride Science, which creates science programs and publications for young people.

U.S. President Barack Obama called Ride "a national hero and a powerful role model."