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Lesbians in SpaceIs NASA Courting the Wrong Stuff?Does it matter that Sally Ride, NASA’s first woman in Space was a lesbian? It wasn’t like the diminutive five-foot-five female astronaut was advocating or promoting same-sex lifestyles, or openly grooming young girls to become future female partners. No one outside a very small circle even knew about her sexual proclivities until after her death from pancreatic cancer.Does it matter that NASA astronaut Lisa Novak was charged with the attempted kidnapping and murder of fellow astronaut William Oefelein’s girlfriend, or that “outed” astronaut Anne McClain was accused of identity theft and “wrongfully attempting...

Pope Francis weighed in on a thorny topic in California history Saturday when he spoke at length at a Rome Mass about Father Junipero Serra, the controversial California mission founder set to become America's first Latino saint later this year. Addressing an audience that included many American priests, including Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, the pope referred to the 18th century Franciscan priest as “one of the founding fathers of the United States” and praised his willingness to abandon the comforts and privileges of his native Spain to spread the Christian message in the New World. I wonder if...

... Statues of ... historical figures stand in the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall, where each state has two representatives cast in bronze or marble ... [Father Junipero] Serra could be the first and only actual saint in Statuary Hall -- Pope Francis recently announced plans to canonize him -- yet he's also a polarizing figure. Is it time to send Serra to the sidelines (or more accurately, move his statue to the California Capitol grounds)? ... Take our pointedly unreliable poll, leave a comment or do both! ...

Foreign honors and imitations thereof don't seem to thrive on this side of the Atlantic, prestigious as they may be back in Europe. Consider the annual presentation of Presidential Medals of Freedom, our version of Britain's honors list, which by now must include the names of thousands of honorees. Who can remember them all? Or any of them. Maybe the Medal of Freedom is supposed to be our equivalent of the Legion of Honor in France, which dates back to Napoleonic times. Its design has had to be changed over the years and regimes, as the empire gave way to...

Sally Ride showed Generation X girls the sky’s the limit — literally. We could do anything boys could do and sometimes better. If we wanted to go into space, our gender couldn’t — and wouldn’t — stop us. If we studied hard enough and trained our brains, the glass ceiling could be shattered. Amid all the girl power that Ride taught women, one barrier the first American woman in space chose not to break was sexuality. When she died on Monday at age 61 from pancreatic cancer, it emerged that Ride had a partner. As one friend on Facebook wrote,...

Maybe the idea of gays in space is just so exciting that it has overwhelmed Sally Ride's eulogists, who really should be parsing her achievements in astrophysics, accident investigations and middle-school education, rather than trying to make hay out of her mellow lesbian romantic life.

Statement issued by the White House: "Michelle and I were deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Sally Ride. As the first American woman to travel into space, Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars and later fought tirelessly to help them get there by advocating for a greater focus on science and math in our schools. Sally’s life

Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, died Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her company said on its website. She was 61.

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A former NASA contract employee has pleaded guilty to stealing machine equipment and a space flight suit worn by the first U.S. female astronaut in space. The U.S. Attorney's Office statement issued Tuesday says 56-year-old Calvin Smith faces up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines at his sentencing scheduled for November. Smith had been charged with having stolen and concealed property belonging to NASA. The flight suit bearing the name patch Sally Ride for the first U.S. woman astronaut in space is valued at more than $1,000. The machine parts Smith admitted stealing are worth...

NASA will likely have to continue flying its aging space shuttle fleet beyond its planned 2010 retirement date in order to complete construction of the International Space Station, a presidential panel said Tuesday. Former astronaut Sally Ride, a member of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, said that it was unlikely NASA could meet the current deadline of retiring the space shuttle by next year, as is currently planned. The first operational flights of the agency's replacement for the shuttle, the Orion spacecraft, may also be delayed a year or so beyond its 2015 target, she added....

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has gained a foothold in another voter demographic: astronauts. Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, endorsed the Democratic candidate on Wednesday in an op-ed published in the Orlando Sentinel. Comparing Obama’s inspirational capabilities to those of JFK, she writes, “He has inspired young people to engage with their communities and has excited them about the possibilities of what they can accomplish. That is in the best spirit of discovery.” Space travel is not just the subject of childhood fantasies though. It’s primed to be a major policy issue for the next administration. NASA, currently...

Feb. 1, 2003 - The University of Central Florida has announced that the Sally Ride Science Festival will continue as planned from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. While the events of today have cast a deep sense of sorrow among all of us, Engineering Dean Marty Wanielista and Sally Ride have decided after careful consideration to continue this weekend's festival. "I believe the science and engineering community will join us in honoring these heroes by continuing our efforts to promote science, math and engineering to aspiring young women," Wanielista said. "This...