The world's first flight by a woman is accomplished. Women cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia who have been in space. Space breakthrough "Seagulls"

Since 1963, when Valentina Tereshkova ushered in the era of female astronautics, 58 women have been in space, of which 45 are Americans, 4 are natives of the Soviet Union / Russia, two Canadians, two Japanese, two Chinese and one each from the UK, France and South Korea.

The following is a story about the first 37 female cosmonauts / astronauts who visited orbit in the 20th century.

The world's first female cosmonaut - Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born March 6, 1937 in the Yaroslavl region), who made a space flight on June 16, 1963 on the Vostok-6 spacecraft. Tereshkova's flight lasted three days. If the flight of Yuri Gagarin began with his phrase "Let's go", then Valentina Tereshkova said before the launch of the spacecraft: "Hey! Sky, take off your hat!" Tereshkova is the only woman on Earth who has made a solo space flight. All subsequent female astronauts flew into space only as part of crews. June 22, 1963 Tereshkova was awarded the title "Hero of the Soviet Union". Valentina Tereshkova is the first and so far the only female general in the history of the Russian army (she received the title of Major General in 1995).

The second woman cosmonaut in the world was also a citizen of the Soviet Union Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya (born August 8, 1948 in Moscow). From August 19 to 27, 1982, as a research cosmonaut, Svetlana flew on the Soyuz T-5, Soyuz T-7 spacecraft and the Salyut-7 orbital station. From July 17 to 29, 1984, as a flight engineer, she flew on the Soyuz T-12 and the Salyut-7 orbital station. During the flight, the first woman made a spacewalk. Svetlana Savitskaya - the only woman - twice Hero of the Soviet Union.

The world's third female cosmonaut and the first American female astronaut (astronaut is the American analogue of the Russian word "cosmonaut") - Sally Ride / Sally Ride (May 26, 1951 - July 23, 2012), who made two flights into space: in 1983 and 1984 . In general, she spent more than 14 days in orbit. In 2012, Sally Ride died after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

The fourth female astronaut in the world again became a US citizen - Judith Resnik / Judith Resnik (April 5, 1949 - January 28, 1986). By nationality, Judith Reznik is Jewish, her grandfather was from Kyiv. At the end of August 1984, the first space flight of Judith Resnick took place as part of the crew of the Discovery spacecraft. In her first space flight, which began on August 30, 1984, Judith spent 6 days. After the second flight into space, Judith did not return to Earth: she, along with six other crew members, died on January 28, 1986 during the Challenger disaster.

The deceased crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Another woman in the carriage besides Judith Resnick is Krista McAuliffe (2nd from left in the top row).

The 5th female astronaut is American Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan (born October 3, 1951), who was a member of the Space Shuttle crew on three space missions (in 1984, 1990, 1992). She is the first American woman to go into outer space.

The 6th female astronaut is American Anna Lee Fisher / Anna Lee Fisher (born August 24, 1949), who traveled into space at the end of 1984 and became the first astronaut mother.

The 7th female astronaut is American Margaret Rhea Seddon (born November 8, 1947), who has been in space three times: in 1985, 1991 and 1993.

8th female astronaut - American Shannon Lucid / Shannon Lucid (born January 14, 1943), who traveled in space 5 times (in 1985, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996), including a flight to the Mir station lasting 188 days (March - September 1996).

The 9th female astronaut is American Bonnie Jeanne Dunbar (born March 3, 1949), who has been in space 5 times (in 1985, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1998).

The 10th female astronaut is American Mary Louise Cleave (born February 5, 1947), who has been in space twice: in 1985 and 1989.

American Christa McAuliffe (September 2, 1948 - January 28, 1986) became the 11th woman to fly into space, but it is not customary to include her in the lists of female astronauts, because. it did not reach the edge of space (altitude 100 km), because the Challenger ship in which she was flying exploded at the 73rd second of the flight, having managed to gain a height of 14 km. All crew members were killed.

The 11th female astronaut is American Ellen Louise Shulman Baker (born April 27, 1953), who has been in space three times (in 1989, 1992 and 1995).

The 12th female astronaut is American Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton (born August 17, 1952). She made 4 space flights (1989, 1992, 1993, 1995), spent 40 days in orbit. Katherine Thornton is the third woman to walk in outer space, she spent 21 hours there.

13th female astronaut - American Marsha Sue Ivins / Marsha Sue Ivins (born April 15, 1951). She flew into space five times: in 1990, 1992, 1994, 1997 and 2001. In total, she spent more than 55 days in space.

The 14th female astronaut is American Linda Maxine Godwin (born July 2, 1952). She made 4 space flights (1991, 1994, 1996 and 2001), spending 38 days in orbit. Linda Godwin is the fourth woman to have been in outer space, she spent 10 hours there.

The 15th female astronaut and the first British woman to travel in space is Helen Patricia Sharman (born May 30, 1963). On May 18, 1991, she made a space flight to the Mir orbital station on the Soyuz TM-12 spacecraft. On April 12, 2011, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, she was awarded the medal "For Merit in Space Exploration".

The 16th female astronaut is American Tamara Elizabeth Jernigan / Tamara Elizabeth Jernigan (born May 7, 1959), who has been in space five times (in 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999), spending more than 63 days in orbit and 8 hours in outer space (Tamara Jernigan is the fifth woman in outer space).

The 17th female astronaut is American Millie Elizabeth Hughes-Fulford (born December 21, 1945), who traveled into space in 1991. The flight time was 9 days.

Roberta Lynn Bondar (born December 4, 1945), who made one space flight on the Discovery shuttle in 1992, was the 18th female astronaut and the first Canadian to travel into space. The flight lasted more than 8 days.

The 19th female astronaut is American Nancy Jan Davis (born November 1, 1953), who has been in space three times: in 1992, 1994 and 1997. The first flight into space by Nancy Jan Davis in 1992 (it was the mission of the space shuttle STS-47) was also marked by the first space flight of a married couple, because her husband flew with Nancy.

Also, that mission was marked by the first flight into space of a black woman: along with Nancy, an African-American May Carol Jemison (born October 17, 1956) was in the space shuttle, who also became the 19th female astronaut in history. May had another achievement: she became the first real astronaut to star (albeit in a cameo role) in the science fiction series Star Trek / Star Trek.

The 21st female astronaut is American Susan Jane Helms (born February 26, 1958), who has been in space 5 times (in 1993, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2001). In 2001, Susan, along with American astronaut James Voss, set a record for continuous stay in outer space - 8 hours 56 minutes.

The 22nd female astronaut is American Ellen Ochoa / Ellen Ochoa (born May 10, 1958), who has been in space 4 times: in 1993, 1994, 1999 and 2002. The total time in orbit was more than 40 days.

23rd female astronaut - American Janice Elaine Voss / Janice Elaine Voss (October 8, 1956 - February 6, 2012), who traveled into space 5 times: in 1993, 1995, twice in 1997, and also in 2000. In 2012, in At the age of 55, Janice died after a difficult battle with breast cancer.

Also considered the 23rd female astronaut is American Nancy Jane Currie / Nancy Jane Currie (born December 29, 1958), who first flew into space on the same space shuttle as Janice Elaine Voss. In total, Nancy Jane Kerry went into space 4 times (1993, 1995, 1998, 2002).

The 25th female astronaut and the first Japanese woman in space is Chiaki Mukai (born May 6, 1952). Chiaki first went into space on July 8, 1994 as part of the crew of the space shuttle Columbia. The flight duration was more than 14 days. Tiaki Muaki flew into space for the second time as part of the crew of the Discovery shuttle on October 29, 1998. This flight lasted almost 9 days.

The 26th woman who has been in space and the third Russian female cosmonaut is Elena Vladimirovna Kondakova (born March 30, 1957 in Mytishchi). For the first time, Elena went into space on October 4, 1994 as part of the Soyuz TM-20 expedition and spent 5 months at the Mir station. The second space flight of Elena Kondakova began on May 15, 1997 on the American shuttle Atlantis and lasted more than 9 days. April 10, 1995 Elena Kondakova was awarded the title of "Hero of the Russian Federation".

The 27th female astronaut is American Eileen Marie Collins / Eileen Marie Collins (born November 19, 1956), who has been in space 4 times (1995, 1997, 1999, 2005) and became the first woman in history to command a spacecraft.

The 28th female astronaut is American Wendy Barrien Lawrence (born July 2, 1959), who flew into space 4 times (1995, 1997, 1998, 2005). Wendy spent a total of 51 days in orbit.

The 29th female astronaut is American Mary Ellen Weber / Mary Ellen Weber (born August 24, 1962), who flew into space twice: in 1995 and 2000. The total time in orbit is 18 days.

The 30th female astronaut is American Catherine Grace Coleman (born December 14, 1960). Katerina flew into space three times: twice (1995, 1999) on the Columbia shuttle and the third time (2010) on the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft, on which she was delivered to the ISS (International Space Station). In total, she spent 180 days in orbit, of which 159 days aboard the Soyuz and the ISS.

Claudie Haigneré (born May 13, 1957), the 31st female cosmonaut and the first French woman in orbit, has been in space twice: in 1996, she flew to the Mir station on the Soyuz TM-24 spacecraft , and in 2001 it was delivered to the ISS on the Soyuz TM-33 spacecraft. The total time in space is 25 days.

The 32nd female astronaut is American Susan Kilrain (born October 24, 1961), who traveled in space twice in 1997.

33rd female astronaut and first Indian in space - Kalpana Chawla / Kalpana Chawla (July 1, 1961 - February 1, 2003). Born and raised in India, Kalpana Chawla graduated from the Punjab College of Engineering in 1982 and moved to the United States the same year to continue her education, where she graduated from the University of Texas and received her degree from the University of Colorado. Chawla became an American citizen in 1990. Kalpana Chawla flew into space twice on 15-day expeditions on the shuttle Columbia. The first flight in 1997 was successful, and the second in 2003 ended in tragedy: upon returning, the shuttle fell apart over the territory of the US state of Texas. All 7 crew members died.

The crew of the lost space shuttle Columbia. Another woman, in addition to Kalpana Chawla, in the carriage is Laurel Clark (2nd from the left in the top row).

The 34th female astronaut is American Katherine Patricia Hire / Kathryn Patricia Hire (born August 26, 1959), who has been in space twice: in 1998 on the Columbia shuttle and in 2010 on the Endeavor shuttle.

The 35th female astronaut is American Janet Lynn Kavandi (born July 17, 1959), who flew into space three times on shuttles: in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

The 36th female astronaut is Canadian Julie Payette (born October 20, 1963). Julie Pyatt made her first flight into space on May 27 - June 6, 1999 aboard the Discovery shuttle. The second space flight was aboard the shuttle Endeavor.

The 37th female astronaut is American Pamela Ann Melroy / Pamela Anne Melroy (born September 17, 1961), who flew into space three times: in 2000 on the Discovery shuttle, in 2002 on the Atlantis shuttle and in 2007 on shuttle Discovery. Pamela was the commander on her third expedition, becoming the second woman in history to command a spaceship.

During space exploration, more than five hundred people managed to see through the glass of the porthole how endless the expanses of the Universe are. Not only men flew aboard spaceships. Among them were and are female cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia.

Now you will not surprise anyone with flights into space. Of course, they are not yet perceived as a common occurrence, but still there is no such excitement that accompanied the first steps of mankind at the base of the unknown endless starry sky. More than half a century has passed since the first space flight in history. During this time, more than five hundred people managed to see through the glass of the porthole how endless the expanses of the Universe are. Not only men flew aboard spaceships. Among them were and are female cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia.

First in the world

The championship in this area belongs to one of the most famous personalities in the world - Valentina Tereshkova. She was born in 1937 in a small village located near Yaroslavl. When she was 22 years old, she became seriously interested in skydiving.

In 1962-1997, she was a member of the female cosmonaut corps. In addition to her, there were 4 more contenders for the flight. I must say that Tereshkova was not the best in terms of endurance and physical fitness. But the then government decided it was her first to send into space.

There were two reasons that influenced this decision. The first one is origin. Valentina Tereshkova was, as they said at that time, a native of the people. The second reason is attractive appearance, charm and charisma.

Despite the fact that the flight was officially recognized as a success, it was not without difficulties. Tereshkova did not feel well, and the spacesuit was very uncomfortable. Because of this, she was unable to complete all the planned tasks in full. In addition, a number of other technical difficulties were revealed. For example, when assembling the manual control, mistakes were made that almost led to the ship deviating from orbit. But since the automation was on top, the landing went smoothly.

In 1963, Tereshkova received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, she is so far the only woman in the Russian army holding the military rank of major general.

I must say that all the women from Russia who have been in space have made an invaluable contribution to the development and study of our Universe. But only Valentina Tereshkova, and to this day is the first and only representative of the fair sex, who made a solo flight into Earth's orbit.

First in outer space

The next woman to see space was Svetlana Savitskaya. She was born in 1947 in the family of a marshal and became an astronaut thanks to her strong determination, willpower and high professionalism.

Savitskaya's career began with NPO Vzlyot, where she worked as a test pilot. In 1982, she got into the crew of the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft, where she spent 8 days. And after 2 years she went into outer space, where she stayed for 3 hours 35 minutes.

Longest flight

The next representative to add to the list of "Women Cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia" was Elena Kondakova. She was born in 1957 in the Moscow region, in the town of Mytishchi. In 1989 she became a candidate for the cosmonaut corps and, after special training, received the qualification of a researcher.

Like her two predecessors, Elena Kondakova also became the first - in terms of the duration of her stay in space. Its total duration was almost 179 days. She has two flights on her account: one - in 1994 at the Mir station, the second - in 1997 on the Atlantis spacecraft (shuttle).

Women cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia are not only space explorers, but also take an active part in the political life of the country. In 1999, Elena Kondakova was elected a deputy to the State Duma.

The new "star woman"

After 17 years, on September 26, 2014, another spacecraft was launched from Baikonur, the crew of which includes Elena Serova. This is her first flight. According to the plan, it should last 170 days and nights.

The fourth female cosmonaut was born in the seaside village of Vozdvizhenka. After graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute, she was hired by the Mission Control Center. She constantly improved her skills and in 2009 became a test cosmonaut.

The female flight into space was planned with different candidates, but in the end the choice fell on Valentina Tereshkova. In the spring of 1963, five applicants were considered for the role of the first women in space. Valentina Tereshkova was chosen for a number of reasons. One of the main factors was ideological. The first woman who flew into space was supposed to be an example for the whole world. Tereshkova was ideally suited for this role, because she was from an ordinary working-class family, and her father died in battles for the Motherland in the Soviet-Finnish war. For example, Valentina Ponomareva did not have such a proletarian past, so her candidacy was not considered a priority. Interestingly, after the flight, Tereshkova's first request was to open data on the place of her father's death.

Candidates

After completing a training course and countless medical studies, five candidates were selected for the flight program, who were placed in priority order: Valentina Ponomareva, Irina Solovyova, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Zhanna Sergeychik and the most recent Valentina Tereshkova. Only with the intervention of Nikita Khrushchev, Valentina Tereshkova was placed first, despite the recommendations of the medical commission.

The first flight of a woman into space

The first flight of a woman into space took place on June 16, 1963. The duration of the mission was approximately three days. Tereshkova took to the skies on the Vostok-6 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Valentina did not tell her relatives about the flight, explaining her absence by gathering paratroopers. The family learned that she had been in space only from news reports.

Ship Vostok 6

I must say, the first flight of a woman into space did not go perfectly smoothly. During the mission, Tereshkova was to face various technical problems. First of all, difficulties began with the orientation of the apparatus. The ship constantly turned in the wrong direction, which was explained by incorrect commands that were given in manual mode. However, in automatic mode, the polarity of the team was restored and this allowed the ship to correctly orient the ship and land successfully.

Few people know that the first woman to fly into space also experienced purely physiological problems associated with the characteristics of the female body. Observations have shown that on some days of the monthly cycle, the adaptive abilities of the body in extreme conditions are sharply reduced.

Despite the pain and general discomfort, Tereshkova steadfastly withstood all the tests and made forty-eight turns around the earth in three days. While in space, she not only kept a logbook, but also actively photographed the horizons. The resulting images subsequently helped to study the aerosol layers in the earth's atmosphere. Tereshkova's flight ended successfully with a landing in Altai.

Stella in the Altai Territory at the landing sitedescent vehicle

Tereshkova's path to outer space

Before flying to the stars, Tereshkova went through a difficult and interesting life path. As a child, she showed musical abilities and even played the domra. After school, she worked for some time at a tire factory, then worked as a weaver and at the same time attended evening school courses. In 1959, she became involved in parachuting and soon she was selected as a candidate for space flight. The first preparatory stage was service in the army as an ordinary soldier.

During training before the flight into space, Tereshkova was tested in a heat chamber. Dressed only in light overalls, she was inside at a temperature of +70 degrees. In addition, she was kept in a sound chamber for about ten days in a row. Weightlessness tests were carried out on the MiG-15 aircraft.

Valentina Tereshkova is the first woman to go into space. To this day, she remains the only woman in the world who went on a space flight alone, without assistants and partners. She also became the first woman in Russia to be awarded the rank of major general. It was in this rank that Tereshkova retired in 1997, at the age of sixty. Valentina Tereshkova forever inscribed her name in the history of the Soviet Union, Russia and the whole world.

Childhood and youth

The biography of this woman begins in the village of Bolshoye Maslennikovo, Yaroslavl Region. Valentina's parents were Belarusian peasants. The mother of the future conqueror of outer space worked at a textile enterprise, and her father was a tractor driver. He participated in the battles during the Soviet-Finnish war and died.

Young Tereshkova attended the Yaroslavl school, received high marks, and also learned to play the dombra (the girl had a good ear for music). Having completed her basic seven-year school education, she decided to help her mother in supporting the family and got a job as a bracelet maker at the Yaroslavl Tire Plant. However, the purposeful girl was not going to give up her education: she combined work with studies at an evening school.

The next stage in the life of Valentina Vladimirovna also did not foreshadow the heights that she was to reach. So, she studied in absentia at the technical school of light industry and worked for seven years as a weaver at a nearby plant called Krasny Perekop. At this time, Tereshkova began to get involved in parachuting. She gladly went to the local flying club and fearlessly jumped from great heights.

astronautics

Valentina's new hobby sealed her fate. By a happy coincidence, just at that time, a Soviet scientist set about trying to send a woman into space. The idea was accepted favorably, and at the beginning of 1962, the search began for that representative of the fair sex, who was to receive the proud title of "astronaut". The criteria were as follows: a parachutist under the age of 30, weighing up to 70 kg, height up to 170 cm.

There were surprisingly many Soviet women who wanted to go into space. Workers in the Soviet cosmonautics industry were looking for the ideal candidate from hundreds of candidates. As a result of a tough selection, five "finalists" were determined: Irina Solovieva, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Zhanna Yorkina, Valentina Ponomareva and Valentina Tereshkova.

The girls were officially called up for military service, received the rank of privates and began to train hard. Initially, Tereshkova went through a training program with the rank of student-cosmonaut of the second detachment, but already in 1962, having successfully passed the exams, she became an astronaut of the first detachment of the first department.

The training included techniques for developing the body's resistance to the peculiarities of space flight. So, for example, the girls learned to move in weightlessness, tested the body's resources in a thermal chamber and an isolation chamber, performed parachute training, and mastered the use of a spacesuit. Training in the isolation chamber (a room isolated from external sounds) lasted for 10 days. Each of the five contenders for the role of the first female cosmonaut spent 10 days in the illusion of complete silence and loneliness.

When choosing the applicant who was to make the planned flight, the following was taken into account:

• training, level of practical training, knowledge of theory, results of medical examinations;
• origin (the fact that Valentina Vladimirovna came from a simple working-class family that lost its breadwinner during the war played into her hands);
• the ability to conduct social activities, glorifying the Communist Party.

If the other candidates were not inferior to Tereshkova on the first two points, then she had no equal in public speaking skills. Valentina Vladimirovna easily communicated with journalists and other people, gave concise and natural answers to questions, while not forgetting to screw in a few words about the greatness of the Communist Party. In the end, she was chosen as the main candidate for space flight. Irina Solovieva received the status of a backup cosmonaut, and Valentina Ponomareva was appointed as a reserve applicant.

A space flight

The first woman went into space on June 16, 1963. The flight lasted 3 days. Valentina Tereshkova went into space on the Vostok-6 spacecraft, which took off from Baikonur (not from the site from which it launched, but from a backup). The way the first woman-cosmonaut conducted the launch, what reports she voiced, was highly appreciated by specialists. They assured that Tereshkova had a better launch than experienced male cosmonauts.

Soon after the start, Tereshkova's health deteriorated, she moved little, did not eat, and sluggishly negotiated with ground stations. Nevertheless, she lasted three days, 48 ​​revolutions around the Earth, and throughout the flight she regularly kept a logbook.

Some time before the intended landing, the first female astronaut had problems with the spacecraft's equipment. Due to incorrect installation of control wires, Valentina Tereshkova did not manually orient the ship. However, Cosmos 6 was nevertheless oriented and landed on the Earth's surface thanks to the use of automatic mode, in which such a problem did not arise.

At the end of the flight (the ship arrived in the Altai Territory), Valentina Vladimirovna distributed food from her diet to local residents, and she herself ate the traditional food of these places. This, like Tereshkova's poor health, as well as problems with the orientation of the ship, upset Sergei Korolev. He even promised not to let another woman into space until his death. The next such flight took place much later than the departure of a gifted engineer from life.

Subsequent career

Since then, Valentina Tereshkova has not flown into space again. She became an instructor-cosmonaut, worked at the Cosmonaut Training Center as a senior researcher, even graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, becoming a professor and writing over five dozen scientific papers. Valentina Vladimirovna declared that she was ready (for a one-way flight).

Tereshkova continues to engage in politics. During the Soviet Union, she was a member of the CPSU, and in the 2000s she was elected to the regional Duma of her native Yaroslavl region from the United Russia party. She also participated in the opening ceremony of the Sochi Olympic Games in 2014, became the president of the Memory of Generations charity foundation, and contributed to the opening of the university and a number of other institutions in Yaroslavl.

Personal life

The first husband of the first female cosmonaut was cosmonaut Adrian Nikolaev. The wedding ceremony took place in 1963, and guests of this ceremony can be seen in the photo. The family broke up in 1982, when the daughters of Adrian and Valentina, Elena Tereshkova, turned 18 years old. Subsequently, Tereshkova admitted that in the circle of close people, her husband showed himself to be a despot, which is why their relationship came to naught.

The second husband of Valentina Vladimirovna was Major General of the Medical Service Yuli Shaposhnikov. No children were born in this marriage. But Elena Tereshkova gave the mother of her grandchildren Alexei Mayorov and Andrei Rodionov. It is noteworthy that both Elena's husbands turned out to be pilots. The only heiress of Valentina Tereshkova herself works at CITO as an orthopedic surgeon.

Valentina Vladimirovna celebrated her 80th birthday on March 6, 2017. She is a retired major general, spends a lot of time with her family, and also continues to pursue a political career. So, in 2016, during the next parliamentary elections, Tereshkova was elected to the State Duma. The first female cosmonaut loves her native region very much, strives to help the Yaroslavl orphanage, her native school, improve the city and help open new educational, industrial, infrastructure institutions in it.

Despite her retirement age, Valentina Tereshkova boasts good health. In 2004, she underwent complex heart surgery, otherwise she would have suffered a heart attack. Since then, no serious health problems have been reported for Valentina Vladimirovna, and based on her active work, one can conclude that they are absent.

• To increase the motivation of the five girls who were contenders for the role of the first female cosmonaut, Sergei Korolev promised that all of them, sooner or later, fly into space. In reality, this did not happen.
• It was originally planned to simultaneously send two women on different spacecraft, but in 1963 this plan was abandoned. Two days before Valentina Tereshkova's flight, Valery Bykovsky went into space on the Vostok-5 spacecraft. He spent 5 days outside our planet. This is a solo flight record that remains to this day.

• The footage of the newsreel that was shown to the Soviet people and the whole world was staged. They were filmed a day after Valentina Vladimirovna's real arrival on Earth, since in the first hours after her return she felt very unwell and was hospitalized.

On March 6, 1937, in the small village of Bolshoe Maslennikovo (Yaroslavl Region), a girl was born who was destined to become the first female cosmonaut - Valentina Tereshkova. My father was a tractor driver in peacetime, and in 1939 he was mobilized and in the same year he died in the Soviet-Finnish war. Valentina's mother worked in a textile factory.

In 1945, Valentina entered the 32nd Yaroslavl school, where she studied for seven classes, and then, to help her family, she got a job at a tire factory. Combining work and study, she graduated from an evening school, and from 1955 to 1960, without stopping her career, she graduated in absentia from the college of light industry.

Throughout her youth, Tereshkova was fond of the sky. She joined the flying club and made 193 parachute jumps, but this was not the limit for her, and Valentina decided to enroll in the women's cosmonaut corps. She stayed in the detachment from March 12, 1962 to April 28, 1997. Although the training in the detachment made it possible to fly into space, and also gave the skill to fly an airplane, Valentina recalls how difficult it was during training.

"The load of the women's group of five people was greater than that of the men," Tereshkova recalled. - But everyone "had one crazy idea - by all means, irreproachably undergo training and fly."

On the day of the first flight into space, she told her family that she was leaving for the paratrooper competition, they learned about the flight from the news on the radio.

His famous phrase "Hey! Sky, take off your hat,” Valentina said on June 16, 1963, right before the flight, which lasted 2 days, 22 hours and 50 minutes. And then she came back as a legend - the first woman ever to fly into space. The flight as a whole is considered to be successful, but there were significant difficulties experienced by Valentina. For example, she almost could not move throughout the flight - the capsule was very narrow, a "tin can", as the designer called it. And no one knew how the female body would react to titanic loads.

The first flight almost ended in tragedy - to return home, it was necessary to use manual course correction, and Tereshkova could not direct the ship to Earth. The point was the incorrect installation of the control wires: commands were given not to descend, but to raise the ship's orbit. Tereshkova was silent about this case for more than forty years, since S.P. Korolev asked her not to tell anyone about this. After the safe return of Tereshkova, Korolev said: “As long as I am alive, not a single woman will fly into space again.” And so it happened, the next flight of a woman into space took place only in 1982, 16 years after the death of the great designer.

Soon Tereshkova married cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolaeva. And on June 8, 1964, Valentina had a daughter, Elena Andriyanovna: the first child in the world, and whose father and mother were cosmonauts.

Valentina Tereshkova - professor, candidate of technical sciences, author of more than fifty scientific papers, Major General of Aviation, Hero of the Soviet Union. She was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Friendship of Peoples, and medals. Tereshkova was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor of Czechoslovakia, Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, Hero of Labor of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic.

An interesting fact is that Valentina Tereshkova is the only woman on Earth who has made a solo space flight. All subsequent female astronauts flew into space only as part of crews