Valentina Tereshkova she was the first woman to travel to space and complete this mission. For this reason, she was not only an icon for science and history itself, but also for feminism, which can still be proud of this pioneer today.
In recent days he was once again at the center of communications Valentina Tereshkovathe Russian astronaut who became the first woman to travel to space, and this is because June 16 marks the 59th anniversary of this event, which occurred in 1963.
Who has not been interested and at the same time fascinated by questions of space? Who has not wanted, at least as a child, to be an astronaut? Who is not dazzled by photos or stories about the galaxies, the stars, the moon, the planets, life there and even more so by everything that the universe hides and could not yet be known despite scientific advances?
There are some people who do, and have managed to fulfill this dream that often seems unattainable. This was the case of Valentina Tereshkova, who managed to travel into space and learn more about a portion of the immensity of the universe.
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But, who was this woman who in 1963 wrote a new chapter for history and for women? How did she become part of this mission? What did this flight consist of? Let’s see some more details about this event.
Valentina Tereshkova: her curious life story
Before becoming one of the astronauts who marked and changed history forever, Valentina Tereshkova did not have an easy life. The daughter of a tractor driver and a textile worker, she belonged to a humble and proletarian family in the post-war USSR.
It was just at the age of eight that he was able to access an education but it didn’t last long. should abandon his studies at the age of 16, to dedicate himself to the textile factory, although he completed his studies at a night school.
Nevertheless, Before reaching her twenties, Valentina Tereshkova showed a great interest in skydiving and joined the local skydiving club, and at 22 she had already made her first jump. She even got the title of instructor in this specialty.
Secondly, in 1961 and at the age of 24, she began working as a secretary for the Communist Party, which she would end up joining later. In those years, attracted by space research, she volunteered for a future astronaut, and although she lacked adequate training, the Soviet space agency decided to prepare her, along with three other women.
This is how she became the first woman to travel into space on June 16, 1963. Their The code name was chaika, which meant seagull in Russian. He was aboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft, in which he circled the Earth 48 times over three days, with 70 flight hours.
However, there was something that set her apart from the rest of the pilots who were part of the Vostok project. During the trip there was an error in the programming of the flight path, which was automaticand it was she who had to intercede to ensure that the ship did not move away from planet Earth and could return as planned.
Also, during the trip, Tereshkova experienced severe nausea and headaches, but that did not prevent her from carrying out the mission. She left the flight capsule and finished her parachute descent from 6,000 meters in Karaganda, Kazakhstan. After this mission The astronaut continued to collaborate with the Soviet space program and became a prominent figure in Russia.
As can be assumed, being the first woman to reach space at this time marked a before and after. The mission demonstrated not only the achievements of socialism in space, but also that women had equal opportunities with men. However, it was not until 20 years later that another Soviet woman traveled to space again. It was about Svetlana Savítskaya on the ship Saliut 7 in 1982.
At the end of this mission, Valentina Tereshkova studied space engineering and graduated in 1969. Not satisfied with that, she obtained a doctorate in engineering in 1977. She also became interested in politics and served in various political positions in the Soviet Union.
Also, She participated in the UN World Conference on the occasion of International Women’s Year, which was held in Mexico in 1975, as an icon for feminism and in 1982 she received the Simba award for her work promoting women.
Valentina Tereshkova became not only one of the people who reached space on this mission, but also the first woman to carry it out, opening a door so that the rest can dream and have the same opportunities as men, showing courage and capacity.
What did the Vostok program consist of?
Yes ok Valentina Tereshkova traveled on the Vostok 6 spacecraft, this mission was part of a more ambitious project, the homonymous Soviet space programor Orient in Russian, which is carried out between April 1961 and June 1963.
It consisted on six missions from which six cosmonauts were in orbit around the Earthmaking the Russians the first in an event of this magnitude.
The The spacecraft that would carry these 6 astronauts, called Vostok, was made up of a spherical cabin with a seat for one person, installed on a module that contained the motor system. It had a mass of 2.46 tons, a diameter of 2.3 meters and a conical module for equipment. It was put into orbit by the SL-3 rocket, which allowed the evacuation of the astronaut in an emergency.
At that time, scientists did not know for sure the effects of weightlessness, so at that time it was decided that flights are automatic, although the pilots could take manual control if necessary.
During the duration of these missions, the pilots conducted radio communication experiments, contact with the Earth and with each other, which allowed them to coordinate actions and compare the results of the observations.
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The first man to travel into space was Yuri Gagarinon April 12, 1961, on the ship vostok-1. It circled the Earth in a 108-minute mission. had a seat ejectionso that the astronaut could exit the module when he re-entered the atmosphere.
The second mission was in the hands of German Titovon August 9, 1961. It circled the Earth 17 times in just over 24 hours and was the cosmonaut youngest in history, at 26 years old.
The following flights, that is to say the ships vostok 3 and vostok 4, were the first to be made together. The vostok-3, piloted by Andrian Nikolaevtook off on August 11, 1962, and the next day was followed by the vostok-4 with Pavel Popovich. Both ships remained in orbit for three days and were located at a distance of 6.5 kilometers, although they failed to dock.
Something similar happened with the following ships. On June 14, 1963, the launch of the vostok-5 with the pilot Valerie Bykovsky. This flight, even today, is a record for being the longest solo, given that the astronaut spent 5 days in space.
Two days after this launch, on June 16, the last spacecraft in the program, vostok 6, he would undertake his mission under the command of Valentina Tereshkova. On this occasion, the ships were only 5 kilometers away.
The objectives of these last flights were to comparatively analyze the effects of flight on the male and female organism and to develop and improve the spacecraft systems under conditions of joint flight, among others.
Did you know the story of Valentina Tereshkova? What about the rest of the missions? have you dreamed of being cosmonaut ever? Would you have liked to travel to space and learn more about a little of all this immensity and unknown world? In this note we try to bring you a little closer to all that.
Source: National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN), National geographic Y Russopedia.