7.24.12 Hero of the Day: Sally Ride

BECOME AN AFFILIATE OF T-SHIRT HELL AND MAKE SOME MONEY! Bee-otch of the Day honors are awarded Monday through Thursday, Bee-otch of the Week is awarded Friday on Chuck69.com. DON'T FORGET TO "LIKE" BEE-OTCH OF THE DAY ON FACEBOOK! ------------------- A SPECIAL HERO OF THE DAY!  Name: Sally Ride Age: was 60 Occupation: physicist, astronaut Last Seen: deceased Awarded For: being a trailblazer --- While James Holmes's fanaticism towards Batman cost 12 people their lives, women who ever needed somebody positive to look up to had Sally Ride. True, her name sounded like a phrase constantly said in Wilson Pickett's classic 1960's hit "Mustang Sally", yes, it was her real name. A science nut, Ride had that dream of joining the all-boys club of going into space. Out of a list of some 8,000 people wanting to be a NASA astronaut, she was one of the chosen, and on June 18, 1983, she shot up into history as the first American woman in space, joining the crew of Challenger. Ride went up again on Challenger in 1984, and when the space shuttle exploded in 1986, she was one of the investigators involved in determining its demise. She left NASA in 1987, becoming a college professor at the University of California San Diego and served as a director of the California Space Institute. In recent years, Dr. Ride was the president of her own company, Sally Ride Science which created science programs aimed at children, mainly girls. Sadly, Dr. Ride was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 17 months ago, and lost her battle with the disease yesterday at age 60. Ride should be truly appreciated not just as the first American female astronaut; she was also a proud Democrat who supported Obama in 2008, especially after Bush destroyed the space program. After her passing, it was officially announced that Ride was a lesbian; she is survived by her partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy. Oh, and one reason why I liked Sally Ride: she and I shared a birthday. It's too bad she'll no longer blow out any candles. Fuck cancer. --- Got a Bee-otch to nominate? E-mail us @ chuck69dotcom@gmail.com. All suggestions (except for me) are welcome! Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com! Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!