Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, has died of pancreatic cancer. She was 61.

Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars

The former astronaut died at her home in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla, said Terry McEntee, a spokesman for her company, Sally Ride Science.

She was a private person and the details of her illness were kept secret. Only a few people knew, Ms McEntee added.

Ms Ride rode into space on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983 when she was 32. After her flight, more than 42 other American women flew in space, Nasa said.

“Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model. She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars,” President Barack Obama said.

When shuttles started flying frequently with crews of six or seven, astronauts became plentiful and anonymous. Not Ms Ride.

“People around the world still recognise her name as the first American woman in space and she took that title seriously even after departing Nasa,” Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle commander, said.

“She never sought media attention for herself, but rather focused on doing her normally outstanding job.”

When Ms Ride first launched into space, feminist icons such as Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda were at the Kennedy Space Centre and many wore T-shirts alluding to the pop song with the refrain of the same name: Ride, Sally Ride.

Nasa administrator Charles Bolden, a former astronaut, said Ms Ride “broke barriers with grace and professionalism – and literally changed the face of America’s space programme”.

“The nation has lost one of its finest leaders, teachers and explorers,” he added.

Ms Ride was a physicist, writer of five science books for children and president of her own company. She had also been a professor of physics at the University of California in San Diego.

She was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1978, beating out five women to be the first American female in space. Her first flight came two decades after the Soviets sent a woman into space.

“On launch day, there was so much excitement and so much happening around us in crew quarters, even on the way to the launch pad,” Ms Ride recalled in a Nasa interview for the 25th anniversary of her flight in 2008.

“I didn’t really think about it that much at the time – but I came to appreciate what an honour it was to be selected to be the first to get a chance to go into space.”

Ms Ride flew in space twice, both times on Challenger in 1983 and in 1984, logging 343 hours in space.

A third flight was cancelled when Challenger exploded in 1986.

She was on the commission investigating that accident and later served on the panel for the 2003 Columbia shuttle accident, the only person on both boards. She also was on the President’s committee of science advisers.

The 20th anniversary of her first flight also coincided with the loss of Columbia, a bittersweet time for Ms Ride.

“She was very smart,” said former astronaut Norman Thagard, who was on Ms Ride’s first flight. “We did have a good time.”

Born on May 26, 1951, in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, Ms Ride became fascinated with science early on, playing with a chemistry kit and telescope. She also excelled in tennis and competed in national junior tournaments.

She earned bachelor’s degrees in physics and English from Stanford University in 1973 and a master’s in 1975.

She was studying for a PhD when she saw an advert in the student newspaper calling for scientists and engineers to apply to become astronauts.

She was chosen in 1978, the same year she earned her doctorate in physics from Stanford.

Ms Ride was married to fellow astronaut Steve Hawley from 1982 to 1987. Mr Hawley said Ms Ride was never fully comfortable being in the spotlight.

Her office said she is survived by Tam O’Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years; her mother, Joyce; her sister, Bear, a niece and a nephew.

Breaking barriers with grace and professionalism

• Sally Ride was one of 8,000 people to answer an advertisement in a newspaper seeking applicants for a space programme. As a result, she joined Nasa in 1978.

• Prior to her first space flight, she was subject to media attention even being asked during a press conference “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?”

• During her career, Ms Ride served as the ground-based Capsule Communicator (CapCom) for the second and

third Space Shuttle flights (STS-2 and STS-3) and helped develop the Space Shuttle’s robot arm.

• On June 18, 1983, she became the first American woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7.

• On STS-7, Ms Ride was the first woman to use the robot arm in space and the first to use the arm to retrieve a satellite.

• Her second space flight was in 1984, also on board the Challenger. She spent a total of more than 343 hours in space.

• Ms Ride was named to the presidential commission investigating the space shuttle accident and headed its subcommittee on operations.

• Following the investigation, Ms Ride was assigned to Nasa headquarters in Washington, DC, where she led Nasa’s first strategic planning effort.