posted 07-24-2012 08:42 AM               

She will be remembered along with other women pioneers in aviation and space like Amelia Earhart, the WASPS of WW2 and Eileen Collins.

I recall one sign before her flight on STS-7 that read, 'RIDE SALLY RIDE... AND THE GUYS CAN COME ALONG TOO..'

posted 07-24-2012 09:23 AM               

It also provided the time to let the news of Ride's passing sink in and reflect what she had meant to me.

I first met Sally during the mid-1990s while serving as the online, on-air host of the National Space Day webcasts. During a couple of the years' broadcasts, I had the opportunity to relay the questions that students were asking on the internet for her to answer.

From the start, she was friendly and generous with her time.

It was several years later, at the opening of SPACE.com's Washington, D.C. bureau that I had a chance to meet up with her again, followed by a short overlap when we worked together in the New York City offices of the online space news website. I remember Sally was particularly supportive of my own efforts to start online forums so that the public — and in particular, students — could chat with astronauts and other space news makers in a live setting.

Regardless how many times we passed each other in the hallway, I couldn't help but smile knowing there went America's first woman in space. It helped that she would often greet me with a smile in return.

In the years since, I had the pleasure of voting for and watching her being inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and working with her company, Sally Ride Science, to develop products for fundraising and even man a table at one of her festivals held here at Rice University.

My last interaction with her was prior to the launch of NASA's GRAIL lunar probes, which included the student-controlled MoonKam cameras that her company was managing for NASA.

Sally's devotion to inspiring students was an inspiration unto itself. I was only 7 when she first flew into space, but I know that her example and the brief chances we had to interact later in life, shaped my own advocacy and outreach efforts through collectSPACE and other endeavors.

Sally Ride will be forever missed but never forgotten.

posted 07-24-2012 03:42 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by englau:
Is there going to be any sort of public memorial at Kennedy Space Center or the like?

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The space community will gather to remember trailblazing astronaut Sally Ride for a wreath-laying ceremony at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville. The ceremony is open to the public and planned for 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Kennedy Center Director and former astronaut Bob Cabana and former astronauts Jon McBride and Robert Crippen will take part.

posted 07-24-2012 09:05 PM               

In lieu of flowers, you may wish to make a gift in memory of Sally to the Sally Ride Pancreatic Cancer Initiative (Fund 4191).

Checks should be made out to: UCSD Foundation.

Also, in either the memo line or in an enclosed note please state that the gift is made in memory of Sally Ride or to the Sally Ride Pancreatic Cancer Initiative (Fund 4191).

Gift mailing address:

Pam Werner
Executive Director of Development
UCSD Health Sciences Dev.
9500 Gilman Dr. #0853
La Jolla, CA 92093-0853

If you prefer using a credit card, please call Pam Werner at 858.246.1556.

Please note that ninety-four percent of donations will go toward pancreatic cancer research at UCSD Moore's Cancer Center. Thank you.

posted 07-27-2012 10:39 AM               

I never had the opportunity to meet Dr. Ride but I did get to see her when she was in Illinois doing a presentation.