Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born on March 6, 1937 in Maslennikovo, a small town in western Russia to Vladimir and Elena Tereshkova. Valentina started school when she was eight years old and attended classes until she was seventeen finishing her education through correspondence courses. At the same time she joined the local aviation club and trained in her main interest, parachuting.
Vostok-1
Valentina went to work in a textile plant to help support her family. Here she organized a Parachute Club and became its leader. Then in 1961 an event occurred that would change her life. Yuri Gagarin, aboard the spacecraft Vostok-1, became the first man in space.
Soviet Space Program
Now the Soviet Union wanted to put the first woman in space. One of the essential qualifications would be parachuting experience for the early cosmonauts were ejected from the space capsule and landed with a parachute. They did not need to know how to pilot the craft as the capsules were automatic. Over four hundred women applied. During the next few months the number was cut back to five including Valentina Tereshkova. These five went through more parachute jumps, floated weightless in simulators and endured isolation and centrifuge tests to see if they could stand the pressures of being in space.
Vostok Flights
The search for the right woman would be narrowed to two as it had been decided that Vostok 5 and Vostok 6 would be launched in early 1963. In the end Vostok 5 was to have a male pilot, Valery Bykovsky, flying in a joint mission with a woman, Valentina Tereshkova in Vostok 6.
Vostok 6
Two days after the launch of Vostok 5 on June 14, 1963 Valentina climbed into the Vostok 6 capsule, went through life support and communications checks and was sealed inside.
The countdown and liftoff were perfect and Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Vostok 6 remained in orbit around the Earth for almost three days, circling the planet 48 times. While in orbit Valentina took pictures of the horizon that later became useful in identifying aerosol layers in the atmosphere. As planned, Vostok 5 came to within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of Valentina and the cosmonauts were able to establish a radio link.
It was not a pleasant flight for Valentina. When she threw up the ground crew wanted to bring her back but Valentina insisted she was not space sick. She thought it was because of the poor quality of the space food they had given her. Strapped in her seat she got a cramp in her right leg that became almost unbearably painful by her third day in orbit.
Finally, Valentina began the re-entry procedure and manually oriented the craft with ease. As the capsule sped towards Earth Valentina was ejected from the spacecraft. Her parachute opened and she landed safely and suffered only a bruised nose.
Hero of the Soviet Union
Valentina’s life had changed forever. After being checked by a team of 70 doctors the cosmonauts were flown to Moscow to meet with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and attend a huge rally in Red Square. She received the Hero of the Soviet Union medal and the Order of Lenin. In November she married Andrian Nikolayev, a bachelor cosmonaut and had a daughter, Elena Andrianovna, who was the first child whose both parents had been in space. Valentina spent many days on tours all over the world to publicize the Soviet space program.
In 1969 she graduated as a cosmonaut engineer. Valentina later became a member of the Supreme Soviet and was in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. She divorced her first husband and was married again to Yuli Shaposhnikov in 1982.
Even with the collapse of the Soviet Union she retained her prestige, revered as a Russian hero. No longer in politics and retired from the Air Force she prefers to be out of the limelight though she occasionally appears at events with a space theme.
Sources:
Francis French and Colin Burgess - Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 - University of Nebraska Press - 2007
Sergei Krushchev, Von Hardesty, and Gene Eisman - Epic Rivalry: The Inside Story of the Soviet and American Space Race - National Geographic 2008
James Schefter - The Race: The Complete True Story of How America Beat Russia to the Moon - Anchor 2000
 |
 |
