1937-

Soviet Cosmonaut

Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to fly in space. Although her flight was a publicity stunt staged by the Soviet Union in an effort to seize control of the space race during the Cold War, Tereshkova's flight benefited space exploration. Her orbits around Earth reinforced public awareness that space travel was possible for women as well as men. American women cited Tereshkova's successful mission as justification for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to include women in aerospace careers.

Born on March 6, 1937, at Masslenikovo in the Yaroslavl region of the Soviet Union, Tereshkova was born to Vladimir Aksenovich and Yelena Fedorovna Tereshkova. Tereshkova grew up on a collective farm, worked at a mill, and took correspondence classes from the Yaroslavl Technical School of Light Industry to master cotton-spinning technology. Tereshkova joined the Komsomol, the Young Communist League. She also...