Sally Ride 1st American Woman in space.
Sally Ride dies at 61; first American woman in space
Sally Ride, an L.A. native who held a doctorate in astrophysics from Stanford, was also the youngest American in space when she flew aboard the Challenger in June 1983.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
July 23, 2012, 9:42 p.m.
In the early days of the space program, astronauts were ex-Marines, Air Force officers and hot-shot pilots. Sally Ride got there a little differently: She answered a want ad.
In the late 1970s, NASA decided that, in addition to pilots, it needed some astronauts with more training in the sciences. More than 8,300 applied for a position, and she was one of only 35 chosen. Why, she later said, was a "complete mystery."
Ride went on to become the first American woman sent into space, the youngest American sent into space and the first woman to make two trips. She also was the sole astronaut appointed to the Rogers Commission to investigate the 1986 explosion of the shuttle Challenger.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-sally-ride-20120724,0,4810625.story
RIP Sally, you ROCKED. 
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