I sat next to Dr. Ride on a flight from Atlanta to Washington DC in the mid-1980s (it was Eastern Airlines, to give you an idea).

Idiot me, I didn’t recognize her–one does hate to stare, although the NASA briefcase should have given it away–until as we were getting off the plane, she was greeted by a NASA team at the door.

One of the greats, at the early age of 61.