Soviet Space Folk Heroine
Cosmonaut folk heroine Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space. She
flew the spacecraft Soviet Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963. During her 3 days stay in
the space she orbited the earth 48 times. Following that she spent a great deal
of time and effort on promoting Soviet science and eventually earned her place as one of the Soviet's folk heroines.
Born in 1937 in Maslennikova village, north east of
Moscow she left school at 16 and worked in a mill where her mother worked. She
soon joined the Communist Party and the Yaroslavl Air Sports Club. Her interest in parachuting helped to get selected for the program. She was among five women who underwent
training for 18 months and was one of two selected to go into space.
Two days after cosmonaut Valeriy Bykovsky flew Vostok
5 Tereshkova launched Soviet Vostok 6. The spacecrafts moved in different
orbits and kept in constant communication with one another.
Technical errors almost led to Tereshkova’s flight being
a tragedy. The space ship was taken away from the earth as a result of a
technical error in its navigation software. She noticed the error and worked
with Soviet scientists to develop a new landing algorithm for the ship that
resulted in a safe landing near Kazakhstan.
She was considered to be a Hero of the Soviet Union
and was also awarded the Order of Lenin as well as the Gold Star Medal. Later
she served as the spokesperson of Soviet Union. She also served as a test pilot
and instructor.
In the early 1980’s she was made a deputy to Supreme
Soviet and then became People’s Deputy. She also served as member of Supreme
Soviet Presidium and as head of Soviet Women’s Committee. Her credits also included being head of the
International Cultural and Friendship Union and later chairperson of Russian of
International Cooperation. Further civic duties included serving as a member of
the Russian Parliament and chairperson of Parliamentary Committee on
International Affairs.
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