Valentina Tereshkova (Валенти́на Терешко́вa)

Valentina Tereshkova Born March 6, 1937, in Maslennikovo, Russia Began school in 1945 at the age of eight Left school 1953 and began working, but continued her education by correspondence course By 1961 she had earned the certification of graduate cotton-spinning technology expert

Valentina Tereshkova Early career Valentina was interested in parachute jumping from an early age Made her first jump at age 22 on 21 May, 1959 Set up the Textile Mill Workers Parachute Club and became its first director Two years later became secretary of the local Komsomol (Young Communist League)

Cosmonaut career beginning Valentina Tereshkova Cosmonaut career beginning One of five women selected as cosmonaut candidates on February 16, 1962 All five underwent training that included weightless flights, parachute jumps, isolation tests, and centrifuge tests Excelled in physical training

Valentina Tereshkova Cosmonaut career beginning Reported difficulty with rocket theory and spacecraft engineering but later received a doctorate in engineering Training included 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in jet fighters

Valentina Tereshkova Cosmonaut career Female cosmonaut flights considered for mostly propaganda purposes Korolev directed female cosmonaut selection Khrushchev made final selection for first female flight

Valentina Tereshkova Cosmonaut career Qualifications for first female cosmonaut class Parachutists under 30 years of age Under 170 cm tall Under 70 kg in weight Tereshkova had the advantage of her proletarian background, and support because her father had died as a war hero fighting the Nazis

Valentina Tereshkova Cosmonaut career Five female cosmonauts were selected in the first class Tatiana Kuznetsova Valentina Ponomareva Irina Solovyova Valentina Tereshkova Zhanna Yerkina

Completed three days in space Valentina Tereshkova First flight Vostok 5 launched on June 14, 1963, with cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky aboard Valentina Tereshkova launched on Vostok 6 on June 16 to become the first woman in space Planned rendezvous (coincident only) Call sign Chayka (Seagull) Completed three days in space More than the flight time of all the Mercury astronauts put together

Valentina Tereshkova First flight Vostok 5 had been planned for a record eight days in space Bykovsky had trouble with his thermal regulation system Landed after only five days, just three hours after Vostok 6

Valentina Tereshkova First flight Tereshkova maintained a flight log and took photographs of the horizon, which were later used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere

First female cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova First female cosmonauts Valentina and her fellow female cosmonauts were not truly integrated into the cosmonaut detachment Were not considered for flight assignments on an equal basis with male cosmonauts An all-female flight of three crewmembers was considered aboard a Voskhod spacecraft in 1965, but was cancelled because of: Emphasis on Soyuz Near-disastrous flight of Voskhod 2

First female cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova First female cosmonauts Svetlana Savitskaya became the second Russian woman in space in 1982 and 1984 An all-female Soyuz flight planned for Soyuz T-15 on International Women’s Day in 1985, was cancelled due to problems with the Salyut 7 space station

Valentina Tereshkova Post-flight After her flight in 1963 she received the Order of Lenin Honored as a Hero of the Soviet Union Received an honorary commission in the Soviet Air Force

Because of her flight she received United Nation Gold Medal of Peace Valentina Tereshkova Post-flight Never flew in space again but became a spokeswoman for the Soviet Union Because of her flight she received United Nation Gold Medal of Peace Simba International Women’s Movement Award An additional Order of Lenin Joliot-Curie Gold Medal

Valentina Tereshkova Post-flight A rumor began circulating that she would marry Andrian Nikolayev, the only bachelor cosmonaut to have flown Andrian and Valentina did not dislike each other but there was little interest in marriage

Post-flight Valentina Tereshkova The rumor of romance eventually reached Khrushchev who thought it was a great idea and began applying pressure through Kamanin, the commander of the cosmonaut detachment, for the couple to marry Both conceded and the marriage ceremony took place on November 3, 1963, at the Moscow Wedding Palace

Later life Valentina Tereshkova Valentina obtained a college level education at the Zhukovskiy Military Air Academy from 1964 to 1969 After her graduation, in October 1969, the female cosmonaut detachment was disbanded In 1977 she received a doctorate of engineering

Valentina Tereshkova Later life Gave birth to their daughter Elena Andrianovna in 1964 Elena is now a doctor and was the first person to have both a mother and father who had traveled into space She and Nikolayev divorced in 1982, though their marriage collapsed long before Her second husband, Yuri Shaposhnikov died in 1999

Later life Valentina Tereshkova Valentina became a prominent member of the Communist Party Representative of the Soviet government to numerous international women’s organizations and events Member of the World Peace Council in 1966 Member of the Yarsoslavl Supreme Soviet in 1967 Member of the council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet in 1966-1970 and 1970-1974

Later life Valentina Tereshkova Elected to the presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1974 Soviet representative to the UN Conference for the International Women’s Year in Mexico City in 1975 Member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Central Committee

Valentina Tereshkova Later life Vice President of the International Woman’s Democratic Federation President of the Soviet-Algerian Friendship Society

Valentina Tereshkova Later life Continues to be a Russian hero Lives in Moscow and has occasional interviews

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