Born in a western Russian village on March 6, 1937, Valentina Tereshkova's father was killed during World War II when Tereshkova was only two years old. He was considered a war hero in the Soviet Union.After helping her mother at home, Tereshkova began school at the age of 10. At the age of 17, she lived with her grandmother while she was an apprentice at a tire factory. Less than a year later, she worked alongside her mother and sister in a cotton mill while taking correspondence courses. She graduated from the Light Industry Technical School.
Always a Communist, Tereshkova joined the Komsomolsk (Young Community League) in her youth and advanced to the Communist Party in her adult life.
Tereshkova showed an interest in parachuting at a young age. At the age of 22, she made her first parachute jump. But that wasn't the only criteria for her selection to be a Cosmonaut.
When the Soviets decided to put a woman into space, Tereshkova was only one of over 400 volunteers. When the selection was narrowed down to five candidates, Tereshkova was among those five. Some of the qualifications for women were that they be under five feet, seven inches tall, weigh under 154 pounds and be an amateur parachutist. Cosmonauts had to parachute from capsules after returning to Earth's atmosphere, thereby the necessary parachuting criteria.
The group of five spent several months in intensive training which included pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters, weightless flights and isolation tests. Four of the five candidates were commissioned at Junior Lieutenants in the Soviet Air Force.
Originally, Tereshkova was to fly in Vostok V while another female candidate, Ponomaryova would follow in Vostok VI. Those plans were changed in March 1963 so that Vostok V would carry a male pilot and a woman would pilot Vostok VI. Tereshkova was nominated to pilot Vostok VI by the State Space Commission and Nikita Krushchev himself confirmed the nomination.
At the time she piloted Vostok VI, Tereshkova was ten years younger than Gordon Cooper, the youngest astronaut on Mercury Seven. The historical flight occurred June 16, 1963. Her call-sign during the flight was Chaika which means "seagull."
Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort during the flight. But she was able to maintain a flight log and took pictures of the horizon. Those photos were used to identify aerosol layers in the atmosphere. Tereshkova orbited the earth 48 times which enabled her to log more flight time in space than the combined efforts of all American astronauts up to that date.
None of the other female cosmonauts in the program ever flew in space and the group was dissolved in 1969.
When asked how she would like to be appreciated for her service, Tereshkova requested that her father be commemorated. The Soviet government researched where her father was killed during the Finnish Winter War. A monument stands at the site in Lemetti, now a part of Russia.
After her historical flight, Tereshkova attended the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy and graduated as a cosmonaut engineer in 1969. She also earned a doctorate in engineering in 1977.
She also held several key positions in politics. She was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and she was in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. She also served on the Soviet Women's Committee. Tereshkova headed the USSR's International Cultural and Friendship Union and was later chair of the Russian Association of International Cooperation.
By presidential order, Tereshkova was retired from the air force and the cosmonaut corp in 1997 at the age of sixty.
On November 3, 1963, Tereshkova married fellow cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev, the only bachelor cosmonaut to have flown. Nikolayev orbited the earth 64 times in Vostok III in 1962. Their child, daughter Yelena Andrianovna Nikolayev, was of particular interest to the medical community. She was the first child born to two people who had flown in space. Doctors thought that having both parents exposed to space that this might have an effect on the child. No ill effects were found and Yelena is now a doctor herself.
Tereshkova is still hailed as a hero in Russia. Leonid Brezhnev presented her with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal. Her seventieth birthday was celebrated at the home of President Vladimir Putin.
There is a monument to Tereshkova on Cosmonauts Alley in Moscow.
Always a Communist, Tereshkova joined the Komsomolsk (Young Community League) in her youth and advanced to the Communist Party in her adult life.
Tereshkova showed an interest in parachuting at a young age. At the age of 22, she made her first parachute jump. But that wasn't the only criteria for her selection to be a Cosmonaut.
When the Soviets decided to put a woman into space, Tereshkova was only one of over 400 volunteers. When the selection was narrowed down to five candidates, Tereshkova was among those five. Some of the qualifications for women were that they be under five feet, seven inches tall, weigh under 154 pounds and be an amateur parachutist. Cosmonauts had to parachute from capsules after returning to Earth's atmosphere, thereby the necessary parachuting criteria.
The group of five spent several months in intensive training which included pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters, weightless flights and isolation tests. Four of the five candidates were commissioned at Junior Lieutenants in the Soviet Air Force.
Originally, Tereshkova was to fly in Vostok V while another female candidate, Ponomaryova would follow in Vostok VI. Those plans were changed in March 1963 so that Vostok V would carry a male pilot and a woman would pilot Vostok VI. Tereshkova was nominated to pilot Vostok VI by the State Space Commission and Nikita Krushchev himself confirmed the nomination.
At the time she piloted Vostok VI, Tereshkova was ten years younger than Gordon Cooper, the youngest astronaut on Mercury Seven. The historical flight occurred June 16, 1963. Her call-sign during the flight was Chaika which means "seagull."
Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort during the flight. But she was able to maintain a flight log and took pictures of the horizon. Those photos were used to identify aerosol layers in the atmosphere. Tereshkova orbited the earth 48 times which enabled her to log more flight time in space than the combined efforts of all American astronauts up to that date.
None of the other female cosmonauts in the program ever flew in space and the group was dissolved in 1969.
When asked how she would like to be appreciated for her service, Tereshkova requested that her father be commemorated. The Soviet government researched where her father was killed during the Finnish Winter War. A monument stands at the site in Lemetti, now a part of Russia.
After her historical flight, Tereshkova attended the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy and graduated as a cosmonaut engineer in 1969. She also earned a doctorate in engineering in 1977.
She also held several key positions in politics. She was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and she was in the Central Committee of the Communist Party. She also served on the Soviet Women's Committee. Tereshkova headed the USSR's International Cultural and Friendship Union and was later chair of the Russian Association of International Cooperation.
By presidential order, Tereshkova was retired from the air force and the cosmonaut corp in 1997 at the age of sixty.
On November 3, 1963, Tereshkova married fellow cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev, the only bachelor cosmonaut to have flown. Nikolayev orbited the earth 64 times in Vostok III in 1962. Their child, daughter Yelena Andrianovna Nikolayev, was of particular interest to the medical community. She was the first child born to two people who had flown in space. Doctors thought that having both parents exposed to space that this might have an effect on the child. No ill effects were found and Yelena is now a doctor herself.
Tereshkova is still hailed as a hero in Russia. Leonid Brezhnev presented her with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal. Her seventieth birthday was celebrated at the home of President Vladimir Putin.
There is a monument to Tereshkova on Cosmonauts Alley in Moscow.
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