Moon crash site named for Sally Ride

America’s first female astronaut in space, Sally Ride, posthumously came out as a lesbian through the official obituary posted to her foundation’s site after passing away following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. (Photo public domain)

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA announced this week the site where two satellites studying the moon were intentionally crashed to study the moon’s interior would be named for the late Sally Ride.

The satellites — which while still in orbit around the moon had allowed students to take their own pictures of the moon’s surface thanks to a partnership with Ride’s foundation — were crashed into the moon to help study the make-up of the lower layers of the body’s crust. After the planned crash, NASA announced the site would be named for the late astronaut, who was revealed to be gay and partnered in her obituary published after her death earlier this year.

“It’s really cool to know that when you look up now at the moon there’s this little corner of the moon that’s named after Sally,” Ride’s sister, Rev. Bear Ride, told the San Diego Union Tribune.