Valentina Tereshkova was born, to a peasant family in Russia on March 6 1937, and today is 73 years old. Her father was a tractor driver, and died during a war, and her mother worked in a textile plant. She became interested in parachuting jumping when she was young, and trained in parachuting at the local Aeroclub, and her first jump was when she was 22 years.
It was her expertise in parachute jumping that led to her selection as a cosmonaut . Valentina was a textile-factory assembly worker and an amateur parachutist when she was recruited into the cosmonaut program. In 1961 she became secretary of the local Komsomol and later joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
On February 16, 1962, under the direction of Soviet premier, four women were selected to be trained for a special woman-in-space program. More than 400 applicants and only 5 women could be selected and, only Valentina Tereshkova completed a space mission.
Valentina was launched aboard Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963 and became the first woman to fly in space. During the 70 hour flight, Vostok 6 made 48 orbits of Earth. Upon completion of her mission, Tereshkova was honored with the title Hero of the Soviet Union. She never flew again, but she did become a spokesperson for the Soviet Union.
Det er gratis at oprette en konto