Mitchell Reports   |  July 24, 2012

First American woman astronaut passes away

NBC’s Andrea Mitchell remembers Sally Ride, who died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 61.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>> there. tim roamer. sally ride , the first american woman astronaut, she died of pancreatic cancer in california at age 61 yesterday. ride's seat on board the space shuttle "challenger" in 1983 mission made her the first 43 women to reach orbit through the space program . sally ride , a ph.d. in physics from stanford, also a leading advocate for women in science , education, whether inspiring children on sesame street back then --

>> a, astronaut.

>> you got to love it. or recently in 2010 , on nbc's "education nation."

>> the most important it's the teachers and the schools holding the high expectations and getting the message to the students, the girls as well as the boys we expect you to do well that you need to do well that he's subjects are important for your future, no matter what career you go into. you don't need to be a rocket scientist , math and science are still going to be important for you as you go on.

>> president obama paid tribute to sally ride as a national hero and powerful role model. she died surrounded by friends and family in her home in la jolla , california. [