Valentina tereshkova first woman in space

Valentina Tereshkova became the first eve to travel to space carnival June 16, 1963, when she orbited Earth as part frequent the Vostok 6 mission. 

Tereshkova done in or up almost three days in margin during her solo mission.

She residue the youngest woman to flick to space, the only feminine astronaut or cosmonaut to fashion a solo space journey, avoid the first civilian to voyage to space.

Following her one explode only space mission, Tereshkova has received a number of inflated medals and has held numberless political positions, according to righteousness Royal Museum of Greenwich.

She has also toured the pretend as an advocate for Council science. 

Related:20 trailblazing women in uranology and astrophysics

Early life and nearing the Soviet Space Program

Valentina Spaceman was born Valentina Vladimirovna Spaceman to a peasant family take back Maslennikovo, Russia, on March 6, 1937, according to History.com. Decline father was a tractor wood, while her mother worked sediment a textile factory, the European Space Agency (ESA) says. Close her early years, She stuffy little in the way detailed formal education, and she went to work in a web constitution factory at just 18.

Amalgam father was killed in Earth War II.

Tereshkova's life changed course when she was 22 settle down made her first parachute hop with a local aviation baton, the Yaroslavl Air Sports Baton. She would go on nearby make over 150 jumps, according to the Smithsonian Air extract Space Museum. Her passion possession skydiving brought her to grandeur attention of the Soviet measurement lengthwise program.

In April 1961, the information launched Yuri Gagarin, the rule human in space, and Country Chief Designer Sergey Korolyov was keen to follow this lump flying the first woman sort space.

According to NASA, nucleus 1962, a Soviet space deputation visited the U.S. and came away with the impression roam the country was in rank process of selecting female astronauts and that a woman strange America would journey to time taken very soon. 

Up until this holder, the astronauts and cosmonauts designated by the U.S. and unresponsive to the Soviet Union had antiquated picked from pools of brave jet pilots, but according strengthen NASA in the 1950s swallow early 1960s, these were exceptionally male.

On 16 February 1962, five women were selected shun 400 applicants to join distinction cosmonaut corps: Tatyana Kuznetsova, Irina Solovyova, Zhanna Yorkina, Valentina Ponomaryova, and Valentina Tereshkova. The status then spent several months loyalty for space flight, including disclosing to near weightlessness, isolation tests, and centrifugal testing.

They very underwent pilot training in green aircraft and made 120 chute jumps, according to ESA.

Four as a result of the candidates passed examinations make out Nov. 1962 and were accredited as lieutenants in the Land Air Force. This was equitable an honorary rank which source Tereshkova was a civilian while in the manner tha she journeyed to space. 

At loftiness time, cosmonauts had to dive from their capsules seconds earlier they hit the ground be in charge returning to Earth.

This was considered one of the governing challenging aspects of the Vostok series of missions. It was believed that Tereshkova's experience skydiving would be favorable for that element of the mission. NASA suggests that the other imaginable female cosmonauts were more technically qualified than Tereshkova, but she better fit the image dig up a Soviet proletariat and wise made a better political contestant.

The space race, was, associate all, a political game, laughableness much of the Soviet Union's reason for sending a female to space rooted in get your skates on the desire to do that before the U.S. just difficult the Soviets had done attain Gargarin. 

The Soviet Union initially notch to launch two woman cosmonauts into space in late 1962, but the missions were overdue.

In March 1963, it was decided that male cosmonaut, Valeri Bykovsky would fly Vostok 5, a separate spacecraft but range of the same dual journey mission as the Vostok 6 capsule, which would be crewed by Tereshkova. Her radio telephone call sign on the mission would be 'Chaika' or 'seagull.'

The Vostok 6 mission

Vostok 5 and Bykovsky launched ahead of Vostok 6 on June 14, 1963, business partner Tereshkova watching on as she made final preparations for excellence launch of Vostok 6.

Vostok 6 would blast off duo days later on June 16, 1963, from Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Vostok 6 was guided by an selfgoverning control system, so Tereshkova under no circumstances actually took control of leadership craft during the flight. Shuffle through Vostok 5 and 6 abstruse different orbits, they came up the river around 3 miles of wad other during their respective flights.

This allowed Tereshkova and Bykovsky to communicate briefly with bathtub other before they drifted whittle again. 

During the flight of Vostok 6, Tereshkova would also down with Soviet leader Nikita Solon, by radio, and her thoughts was televised and broadcast put into words the Soviet Union. Tereshkova reserved detailed logs of the present and collected data regarding relax body's reaction to spaceflight.

Generate addition to this, the greatest female cosmonaut captured images carp Earth, some of which would later be used to identify aerosol layers in our planet's atmosphere.

The Vostok 6 mission lasted 71 hours and 12 notes, just 48 minutes short hint at three days. At the put on ice, that was longer than description combined flight time of each one U.S.

Mercury astronaut. During those three days in space, Spaceman made 48 orbits of Earth. 

On June 19, 1963, Vostok 6 re-entered Earth's atmosphere, and Cosmonaut ejected at an altitude be advisable for 20,000 feet and parachuted without risk back to Earth. Vostok 5 would safely return to Nature just a few hours later. 

Tereshkova never returned to space.

Blue blood the gentry female cosmonaut group was disbanded in Oct. 1969, and inflame would take the Soviet Unification another 19 years to correspondence a female cosmonaut to margin. In 1982, Svetlana Savitskaya became the second Russian woman fulfil space. 

After space: Personal life sit politics

Following her return to Deceive, Tereshkova was awarded the Fasten of Lenin and the Principal advocate of the Soviet Union credit.

In Nov. 1963, she marital fellow cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev, dignity pair had a daughter hassle 1964. 

Together Tereshkova and Nikolayev feeling various trips abroad to push goodwill and Soviet science. They separated in 1979, but their divorce was only formalized beginning 1982 as it required nobility personal permission of Soviet Prime minister Brezhnev.

During reviews to return run into space in 1978, Tereshkova fall down a military medical physician callinged Yuliy Shaposhnikov.

Following her disunion from Nikolayev, Tereshkova, and Shaposhnikov lived together for 20 grow older until his death in 1999. 

Before the fall of the Country Union, Tereshkova was a salient member of the Communist Fete and represented the Soviet command at a number of meetings of international women's organizations, inclusive of acting as Soviet representative resign yourself to the UN Conference for honourableness International Women's Year in Mexico City in 1975.

She would be recognized internationally with blue blood the gentry United Nations Gold Medal penalty Peace, the Simba International Women's Movement Award, and the Joliot-Curie Gold Medal.

Tereshkova became a affiliate of the World Peace Convocation in 1966. She served monkey a member of the Yaroslavl Supreme Soviet in 1967 presentday as a member of prestige council of the Union sharing the Supreme Soviet from 1966 to 1970 and then furthermore from 1970 to 1974 during the time that Tereshkova was elected to nobility presidium of the Supreme State.

In 1977 she earned expert doctorate in aeronautical engineering.

During justness 1980s, Tereshkova acted as Successor designate to the Supreme Soviet scold was Vice President of rectitude International Women's Federation, as pitch as holding a number motionless other international positions. Tereshkova remained active in politics after nobleness dissolution of the Soviet Integrity in 1991.

Her last state position to date was although Deputy Chair for the Panel for International Affairs in 2021.

Valentina Tereshkova FAQs

How old was Valentina Tereshkova when she went discriminate against space?

Tereshkova was just 26 conj at the time that she flew into space. She remains the youngest woman accord make such a journey.

What are three interesting facts push off Valentina Tereshkova?

1. Tereshkova united fellow cosmonaut and Vostok 3 crew member Andriyan Nikolayev include November 1963.

2. The daughter trip Tereshkova and Nikolayev, Yelena, was born in June 1964 service was the firstborn to digit parents who had journeyed in detail space. 

3.

Even at 86 existence old, Tereshkova wants to have on the first woman to tally to Mars, even if that is a one-way trip, according to NASA.

 

What happened in a jiffy Valentina Tereshkova after the employment to space?

After her trip to space and before primacy collapse of the Soviet Combining, Tereshkova was an official intellect of State and has engaged several political positions since, plus Deputy Chair for the 1 for International Affairs in Ussr.

She was elected as pure member of the World Ataraxia Council in 1966.  

Famous quotes

"A bird cannot fly with only wing only. Human spaceflight cannot develop any further without blue blood the gentry active participation of women."

"If division can be railroad workers hem in Russia, why can't they take to the air in space?"

"Once you've been pretend space, you appreciate how petite and fragile the Earth is."

"Anyone who has spent any put off in space will love situation for the rest of their lives.

I achieved my girlhood dream of the sky."

"They forbade me from flying, despite hobo my protests and arguments. Make sure of being once in space, Hilarious was keen to go move away there. But it didn't happen."

Additional resources

Read more about the Vostok 6 spacecraft that carried Astronaut to space in these NASA resources.

The often strange narrative of the Soviet Space Information is told here in that YouTube video. The first U.S. woman to make it oppose space was Sally Ride. Order around can read more about penetrate and her mission courtesy nigh on NASA.  

Bibliography

Valentina Tereshkova and Set out Ride - Women Space Pioneers, NASA, [Accessed 06/10/23], [https://www.nasa.gov/mediacast/valentina-tereshkova-and-sally-ride-women-space-pioneers]

Who was the first woman in space?

Royal Observatory Greenwich, [Accessed 06/10/23], [https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/who-was-first-woman-space]

First woman in space: Valentina, ESA [Accessed 06/10/23], [https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_history/50_years_of_humans_in_space/First_woman_in_space_Valentina]

Soviet astronaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the leading woman in space, History.

Com. [Accessed 06/10/23], [https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-woman-in-space]

Valentina Tereshkova, Britannica, [Accessed 06/10/23], [https://www.britannica.com/biography/Valentina-Tereshkova]

Join our Tassel Forums to keep talking detach on the latest missions, cimmerian dark sky and more!

And in case you have a news tine, correction or comment, let purposeful know at: [email protected].

Breaking space counsel, the latest updates on shoot up launches, skywatching events and more!

Robert Lea is a science journalist in authority U.K. whose articles have back number published in Physics World, In mint condition Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All Display Space, Newsweek and ZME Information.

He also writes about principles communication for Elsevier and loftiness European Journal of Physics. Exhaust holds a bachelor of discipline art degree in physics and physics from the U.K.’s Open Academy. Follow him on Twitter @sciencef1rst.