THE FIRST WOMAN-COSMONAUT

Valentina Tereshkova (1937-), was the first woman-cosmonaut in the world. From June 16 until June 19,1963 , during a group flight with V. Bikovsky, the spaceship «Vostok-6» piloted by Valentina Tereshkova made in 70 hours and 41 minutes 48 circuits around the earth, covering a distance of about 2 million kilometers.

Valentina Tereshkova was born in 1937, in the village of Maslennikovo, Yaroslavl region.

At the age of 17, she went to work first at the Yaroslavl plant producing automobile tyres, and then at the Krasny Perekop textile mill, where her mother and elder sister worked. Without giving up her work, she went to an evening school, and after finishing it entered the correspondence department of a textile technical school. She finished it in 1960, and received the diploma of cotton-spinning technologist. When Tereshko­ va was still working at the textile factory, she went in for para­ chute jumping.

Soon she went to Moscow, and began to study at a school for space-pilots.

At last the great day came. Valentina Tereshkova was launched into space. When she was in space, she was there together with her «space-brother» Valery Bykovsky. This was another great achievement - launching two spaceships at the same time.

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