Yesterday Sally Ride, the first American woman to have gone into space, passed away.

Sally Kristen Ride was born on May 26, 1951, in Encino, a district of Los Angeles, California.

Sally Ride studied at Swarthmore College, followed physics courses at UCLA, and later studied at Stanford, where she received a bachelor’s in English and physics. At Stanford, she also earned a master’s and Ph.D. in physics while she was doing research in astrophysics and laser physics.

In 1978, Sally Ride was accepted into NASA after she sent her resume answering an ad in a newspaper published by the Agency to search for personnel for its space travel program.

Sally Ride worked at the NASA control center as a Capsule Communicator in the second and third missions of the Space Shuttle and contributed to the development of the robotic arm used by the Shuttle.

On June 17, 1983, Sally Ride left on the Space Shuttle Challenger for mission STS-7, the first American woman to travel into space. During that mission, among other things, she used the Challenger’s robotic arm to grab a satellite.

On October 5, 1984, Sally Ride left again on the Space Shuttle Challenger for mission STS-41-G, the first to have two women in the crew as it also included Kathryn Sullivan.

Sally Ride was training for a new space flight when the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy led to the blocking of all missions. She was appointed to the presidential commission charged with investigating the incident and directed its subcommittee on operations.

At the end of the investigation, Sally Ride was assigned to NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where she directed the agency’s first strategic planning, wrote a report entitled “Leadership and America’s Future in Space” and founded the NASA Office of Exploration.

In 1987, Sally Ride left NASA and went to work at Stanford and later became a professor of physics at the University of California at San Diego and also director of the California Space Institute.

In 2001, she founded Sally Ride Science, a company that produces scientific material primarily for educational purposes.

In 2003, Sally Ride was part of the committee that investigated the incident that led to the destruction of the Space Shuttle Columbia resulting in the death of its crew.

After a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, on July 23, 2012, Sally Ride died. Between 1982 and 1987 she was married to astronaut Steve Hawley. Only after her death, her long relationship with another woman was revealed.

Throughout her life, Sally Ride has received many awards and has been inserted into various Halls of Fame. President Barack Obama expressed his condolences for her death, calling her a national hero and a model that has inspired generations of girls.

Sally Ride was truly an extraordinary woman who helped change rather sexist perceptions in the world of science and astronautics. She leaves a really important legacy.