Valentina Tereshkowa, photo taken in 2003.
Valentina Tereshkowa was the first woman Soviet cosmonaut to fly in space. At the time of dissolution of the Soviet Union she held the rank of Major General in the Soviet Airforce. She was born in a village in Western Russia on 6th March, 1937. Her parents migrated to Belarus at the beginning of 20th century. Her father was a tractor driver and her mother worked in a textile plant. She began her schooling in 1945 at the age of eight, but left school in 1953 and continued her education by correspondence courses. She was interested in parachuting since her childhood. She did her first jump when she was 22.
After Gargarin’s flight, Sergei Korolyvov came with an idea of putting a woman in space. He wanted that the first women to be in space should be from the USSR. Valentina was selected amongst 400 applicants. She went intense training for her space journey. Training included weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, rocket theory, spacecraft engineering, 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters. On the morning of 16 June 1963, Tereshkova and her back-up Solovyova were both dressed in spacesuits and taken to the launch pad by bus. After completing her communication and life support checks, she was sealed inside the Vostok. After a flawless two-hour countdown, Vostok 6 launched faultlessly and Tereshkova became the first woman to fly into space. Her call sign in this flight was Chaika. Although Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort for much of the flight, she orbited the earth 48 times and spent almost three days in space.
Sergei Korolyvov(Korolev)(Left in the picture) was the Chief Designer and the mastermind behind Soviet Space Programs.
Due to sudden changes in the environment, Valentina experience physical discomfort. This was the first time a woman was in space. She could have experienced the usual problems women face in her life. Sergei Korolyvov was said to have shouted from the space control station in the USSR to ask her not to panic or cry.
With a single flight, she logged more flight time than the combined times of all American astronauts who had flown before that date. Tereshkova also maintained a flight log and took photographs of the horizon, which were later used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere.
USSR stamp commerating Valentina Tereshkowa's space flight. First woman in space.
After her spaceflight, she married Andrian Nikolayev. She gave birth to Elena Andrianova who later graduated as a doctor. Valentina Tereshkowa later became a prominent member of the Soviet Government. Even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, she didn’t lose her prestige or fame. She is revered as a Russian hero her fame only surpassed by Yuri Gargarin and Leonov. Tereshkova was invited to President Vladimir Putin's residence in for the celebration of her 70th birthday. She said to Putin that she would like to fly to Mars, even if it meant that it was a one way trip.
