Sally Ride - Santa Monica, CA - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

During the 1960s, with the advent of the Race for Space, and the frequent televised rocket launches of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, it wasn’t unusual for young boys (and apparently some young girls) to want to be astronauts. Sally Ride was one of the few who actually realized that dream.

Sally Ride was a bit of a jack of all trades. She majored in both physics and English literature in college, going on to achieve both a master’s degree and PhD in physics. And she was also a champion tennis player while at school, even toying with the idea of pursuing the sport professionally. But there’s only so many hours in a day and when she realized that professional tennis requires about 8 hours of practice daily, she set her sites on becoming an astronaut instead.

In the late 1970s, NASA began recruiting astronauts for their Space Shuttle program. Out of over 8000 applicants, Sally Ride became one of the finalists. NASA was impressed by her physical fitness, scientific knowledge and ability to learn quickly. For instance, although not an absolute requirement at that time, Sally Ride became an accomplished pilot. Ride was eventually selected for Space Shuttle mission STS-7 in 1982. When that flight took off on June 18, 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman in space (and, since she grew up in Encino, the first ‘Valley Girl’ in space).

Sally Ride went on to participate in a second Space Shuttle flight (STS-41-G) and was scheduled for a third when the program was suspended due to the ‘Challenger’ disaster. (By the way, both of Ride’s missions had been aboard the Space Shuttle ‘Challenger.’) After her NASA career, Sally Ride became involved in academia, ultimately as a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. She also was involved in many public relations programs for NASA and participated as an advisor on several investigative boards.

Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2011, Sally Ride died on July 23, 2012, at the age of 61. Among Sally Ride’s many awards and citations were being honored on a U.S. postage stamp, a U.S. quarter and her very own ‘Barbie’ doll.
(Source: wikipedia.org)

Description: Sally Ride’s cremated remains are buried in Santa Monica’s Woodlawn Cemetery. Date of birth: 05/26/1951 Date of death: 07/23/2012 Area of notoriety: Science/Technology Marker Type: Horizontal Marker Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: 8:00 am - 4:00 pm (M-F); 10:00 am - 4:00 pm on weekends Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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