Once upon a time , Valentina Tereshkova was a textile factor worker who made a sideline of jump off of stuff with chute . On June 16 , 1963 , she was the first woman to make it into space , piloting Vostok 6 through 48 orbits in 70.8 60 minutes . Today is her birthday .
Valentina Tereshkova looking suitably unamused in this January 1 , 1963 portrait from theRIA Novosti archive .
Tereshkova was one of a handful woman pick out as cosmonauts in the Russian space program , and the only one of her group to nail a infinite flight of stairs . It was 19 years before another distaff cosmonaut , Svetlana Savitskaya , made it into orbit in 1982 , and a full 20 before the first distaff American cosmonaut , Sally Ride , crossed the one - hundred naut mi altitude barrier * in 1983 .
That 1963 solo trajectory on Vostok 6 was Tereshkova ’s only time into space . Once in domain , she acknowledge a computer fault that was defecate her trade ascend rather of descend . With data from the surface , she reprogrammed a solution , safely return to Earth on June 19th . At the postulation of the starship designer , she kept quiet about the bug until another spaceman speak about it in public in 2004 .
During training , she was given the nickname “ Little Seagull ” ( callsign Chaika ) . Once she landed , she take in the far more honourable cognomen “ Hero of the Soviet Union , ” and was made a internal voice . She did her job well , easing tensions ( an ongoing custom for astronauts ) and earning the United Nations Gold Medal of Peace .
https://gizmodo.com/how-does-political-tension-affect-astronauts-aboard-the-1537098978
Less than a year after her flight , Tereshkova tie fellow spaceman Andrian Nikolayev . Their daughter was pay the next year , the first kid where both parents had been expose to space . All the poking and prodding by doctor rummy about the first child pay to a span of space - come spaceman must have made a lasting impressing , as Elena acquire up to be a aesculapian medico herself .
On the fiftieth anniversary of her flight , Tereshkova used the platform to urge for a global asteroid - trailing and preparedness arrangement . She ’s get a point — at the minute we ’re totally hosed if one of those asteroid wekeeptalkingabout(or one we have n’t even find yet ) comes crashing into our one and only planet .
The gigantic asteroid set up to fly by Earth last night just vanish
https://gizmodo.com/we-will-not-be-obliterated-by-an-asteroid-today-1536717058
https://gizmodo.com/2014ef-isnt-going-to-kill-us-either-nor-will-2014do7-1537597613
Not to be limited by the simple ideals of cross and defending Earth , last year Tereshkova declared that the real conjuration is to spread out over more than one major planet . In fact , even at the dignified geezerhood of 77,she ’s down with hopping on a one - mode flightto search our dusty neighbor . Over 200,000 people share her desireto explore at any price .
https://gizmodo.com/leaving-it-all-behind-far-far-behind-1537549706
Tereshkova was one kick - can lady , busting through the glass ceiling and right into orbit . Happy natal day , Valentina ! I desire you ’ve have raucous booster who can keep up with you to help you celebrate .
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