Valentina Tereshkova

Research Hero

Valentina Tereshkova

My hero is Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova. She was the first woman to fly in space.

She is Russian. She was born in 1937 in Yaroslavl Region. Her mother worked at a textile plant. Her father was killed during WWII.

After school Valentina worked as a textile worker. She also did parachuting and skydiving at a local aeroclub. She was strong and brave.

In 1962 Valentina joined the female astronaut group. She trained very hard. And on the morning of 16, June 1963 she was launched into space on board spaceship Vostok (East) 6. In spite of physical discomfort of the flight she orbited the Earth 48 times. She spent almost 3 days in space.

After Vostok 6 flight Tereshkova married Andrian Nikolayev. He was also an astronaut (1929-2004). They gave birth to their daughter Elena Nikolayeva-Tereshkova. She is a doctor now.

Valentina Tereshkova studied at the Air Force Academy then. She got a doctorate in engineering. She did reserch work and took an active part in the social life of the country. In 1997 she was retired from the astronaut corps.

( Wedding Ceremony of V.Teeshkova and A. Nikolayev)