News Sally Ride, First American woman in space has died aged 61

[garyw]

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, has died, according to Sally Ride Science.
She died peacefully Monday after a courageous 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61. According to Sally Ride Science, her historic flight into space captured the nation's imagination and made her a household name. She became a symbol of the ability of women to break barriers and a hero to generations of adventurous young girls. After retiring from NASA, Sally used her high profile to champion a cause she believed in passionately--inspiring young people, especially girls, to stick with their interest in science, to become scientifically literate, and to consider pursuing careers in science and engineering.
Ride is survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy; her mother, Joyce; her sister, Bear; her niece, Caitlin, and nephew, Whitney; her staff of 40 at Sally Ride Science; and many friends and colleagues around the country.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8746225

 

[Urwumpe]

I curse you, Pancreatic cancer.

First Jon Lord, now Sally Ride.

RIP Sally

 

[Cras]

Let us remember her legacy. Let us remember her as the first American woman in space, the fulfillment one of the many promises of the Space Shuttle. Let us remember her as the embodiment that the term "Astronaut" is a far more diverse thing than originally presented. And while we feel sad, also rejoice in her accomplishments, and remember what she did, and tell it to others, for her journey on Earth may have come to its inevitable conclusion, that does not mean her spirit has left us for ever. May she continue to serve as an example for young and old that we can reach for the stars, and reach we shall.

Roll program, go at throttle up, looking good up hill....God speed.

 

[N_Molson]

Another space hero(ine) passed away.

 

[John_L]

She was a great asset to our space program, she'll be sorely missed... RIP Sally Ride

 

[Unstung]

Only a few months ago has Jancie Voss died of breast cancer. It's sad that we have to lose some of them early.

 

[SpaceShuttleFan]

Wow, this is a horrible month for astronaut deaths. First Alan Poindexter, and then Sally Ride? RIP.

I curse you, Pancreatic cancer.

First Jon Lord, now Sally Ride.

RIP Sally

Steve Jobs too. Sigh...

 

[Zatnikitelman]

Rest In Peace Sally Ride

 

[Polaris]

RIP, Doctor Ride.

 

[Yoda]

Very tragic..........she was one of the great !

 

[FADEC]

I am shocked. But I also think that she had an exciting life, and she certainly gave something back (which is actually the only thing that matters). I still remember her in one of my schoolbooks in the early 1990s, which included this picture:

It was one of the many things which inspired me for becoming interested in flying stuff.

---snip---

Maybe this is not the appropriate thread, but:

there is actually quite a number of astronauts who died from cancer. Ride now is another one. Is this just by accident, or possibly due to higher radation which astronauts get during their stay in space? Is there any study or numbers which show the expected increase in cancer risks?

 

[Unstung]

there is actually quite a number of astronauts who died from cancer. Ride now is another one. Is this just by accident, or possibly due to higher radation which astronauts get during their stay in space? Is there any study or numbers which show the expected increase in cancer risks?

I thought of this earlier, but I don't know of any Apollo astronauts that had cancer despite being outside of the protection of Earth's magnetic field. I wonder if it could have to do with the Van Allen belt or there's simply been 550 astronauts and some of them were bound to get cancer.

 

[Aeadar]

Jack Swigert died of cancer as well I believe.

 

[Arrowstar]

RIP Sally

 

[FADEC]

I thought of this earlier, but I don't know of any Apollo astronauts that had cancer despite being outside of the protection of Earth's magnetic field. I wonder if it could have to do with the Van Allen belt or there's simply been 550 astronauts and some of them were bound to get cancer.

There even is an Apollo astronaut who died of cancer: Jack Swigert. He suffered from a very nasty cancer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Swigert#Death

It can be accident. But somehow it seems strange to me that several astronauts die of cancer.

 

[Andy44]

This was a shock. I didn't even know she was sick. I remember her when I was growing up, and Mike Mullane talked about her in his book.

 

[Quick_Nick]

Maybe this is not the appropriate thread, but:

there is actually quite a number of astronauts who died from cancer. Ride now is another one. Is this just by accident, or possibly due to higher radation which astronauts get during their stay in space? Is there any study or numbers which show the expected increase in cancer risks?

IIRC, they know the increased risk percentage based on duration. (and would limit your time in space appropriately)

Verifying that NASA respects legal standards... www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/researching/radiation/marsrisk.pdf

 

[Urwumpe]

Also, the amount of cancer deaths among astronauts could be estimated. 43000 people in the USA are diagnosed with cancer every year and 7 out of 100,000 US citizens die of pancreatic cancer at the end of their life. (0.0385 astronauts out of 550)

So, one or two astronauts dying of pancreatic cancer would be no significant increase yet, it is still within the error margins for the normal cancer rates. At three or four astronauts, I would start being a bit concerned, but this could also have alternative reasons. Pancreatic cancer for example has a strong relation to genetics, around 5-10% of all had a pancreatic cancer case in their families. Smoking has a strong effect, not sure if this applies to rocket fumes as well.

But astronauts also have different statistics how to die. Far more astronauts died by NASA mismanagement, than by pancreatic cancer.

 

[SiberianTiger]

May her soul has a smooth glide along the starry fields of the Milky Way... Along with all the others destined so. This year is taking a heavy toll.

 

[MattBaker]

I thought of this earlier, but I don't know of any Apollo astronauts that had cancer despite being outside of the protection of Earth's magnetic field.

Alan Shepard died of leukemia, what is a "classical" radiation cancer I believe.

About Sally Ride, I think there's nothing to add. Godspeed Mrs Ride