This undated photo released by NASA shows astronaut Sally Ride. Ride, the first American woman in space, died Monday, July 23, 2012 after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 61.WASHINGTON - Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, has died. She was 61.
NASA confirmed her death Monday afternoon and President Barack Obama called her a national hero.
Her office in San Diego said she died of pancreatic cancer.
Ride rode into space on the shuttle Challenger in 1983 when she was 32.