To coincide with the tribute to U.S. Astronaut Sally Ride's life that occured at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C. last night, President Obama has awarded Ride — the first American woman to ever make the voyage into space — with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The honor was bestowed…

The San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli spoke with Sally Ride's family and friends about how the first American woman astronaut — and, now, the first known LGBT astronaut — was a private person who wasn't in the closet as much as disinterested in making a public statement about her sexuality.

Yesterday, Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, passed away after battling pancreatic cancer for a year and a half. But hidden in her obituary was a surprise — she was survived by Tam O'Shaughnessy, her partner of 27 years. Tam O'Shaughnessy is a woman.

Picture, if you will, Kanye West swimming in a vault of precious stones a la Scrooge McDuck; after girlfriend Kim Kardashian's divorce from Kris Humphries is finalized, 'Ye apparently plans to propose with a one-of-a-kind ring made from his late mom Donda's personal jewelry collection. He visited a private jeweler with …

Early this morning, astronaut and physicist Sally Ride passed away after a 61-year-long life of exploration, boundary breaking, and ass kicking. When she blasted into space in 1983, she became the youngest American and the first American woman to leave the earth's atmosphere, thus igniting space camp dreams in a…

• Rielle Hunter is reportedly suing Andrew Young, author of the The Politician, for all profits from the memoir's sales.

Astronaut Sally Ride has been named one of America's Best Leaders by U.S. News for founding Sally Ride Science to fight what she calls "societal stereotypes and peer-group pressure" that discourages girls from studying math and science. [U.S. News]

• One of Annie Leibovitz's Louis Vuitton ads with astronauts Sally Ride, Buzz Aldrin, and Jim Lovell is out. (Gorby was busy that weekend.) [WWD]
• Karl Lagerfeld: "Ballet is an extraordinary art: this torture of the body to make something so graceful. All this hard work, to look effortless."

• Naomi Campbell stalked the runway like a thoroughbred in Mumbai for a charity show. Last time Campbell blended fashion and philanthropy, the supermodel raised over $1 million for Hurricane Katrina survivors. [Daily Mail]

As you know, the Life magazine photo archive is now online. We've been showcasing images of women in different decades. Although Life was a weekly until 1972, it hung around as a monthly until 2000.