Valentina Tereshkova: First Woman in Space

Valentina Vladimirovna was born on March 6, 1937, in Maslennikovo, a village near Moscow. Her father was a tractor driver, and her mother worked in a cotton mill.

Tereshkova’s father was killed during World War II. Valentina didn’t start school until she was 8 and had to leave school when she was 16. She continued her education through correspondence courses. She became interested in parachute jumping after joining the Yaroslavl Air Sports Club.

After Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, Tereshkova volunteered for the Soviet space program. Although she did not have any experience as a pilot, she was accepted into the program because of her 126 parachute jumps.

Along with four other women, Tereshkova received 18 months of training, which included tests to determine how she would react to long periods being alone, to extreme gravity conditions and zero-gravity conditions. Of the five women, only Tereshkova went into space.

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go into space when she flew Vostok 6 in 1963. She spent almost three days in space and orbited Earth 48 times.

Tereshkova never flew in space again. She later became a test pilot and instructor and earned a doctorate in technical sciences. Tereshkova is still serving as a member of the Russian parliament and deputy chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on International Affairs.