The progressive twentieth century gave women the freedom to choose their own future. Many ladies found themselves in traditional male professions, becoming builders or factory workers. human space flight gave women new opportunities. Not only traditionally men, but also the weaker half of humanity became astronauts. Women cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia were among the first to master a new profession.
Valentina Tereshkova - the first female cosmonaut
Valentina was born in a small village in the Yaroslavl region. The mother, who worked in a textile factory, raised her daughter alone, having lost her husband during the Finnish War.
Tereshkova never planned to connect her life with heaven. After graduating from the seventh grade, the girl began her working career at the enterprise, while simultaneously studying at evening school, and then at the technical school of light industry. In her free time, Valentina visited the local flying club, where she practiced parachuting.
Gagarin's successful flight proved that man is capable of surviving in space. It remains to prove that not only men, but also women are suitable for this. Soon the selection of candidates began, among whom was Valentina, who was distinguished by her success in the parachute section. In 1962, Tereshkova underwent special training and, after passing the exams, received a place in the first cosmonaut corps.
The choice fell on Valentina not only because the girl had good sports training, was physically strong and resilient. Political nuances also played an important role. The father of the future cosmonaut died in the war. The girl was from a simple working family. In addition, the candidate was required to have the ability to behave well in public. It was assumed that after a successful flight she would be actively engaged in political propaganda, traveling around the world and showing the merits of the socialist system. According to the experts who worked with the cosmonauts, Tereshkova certainly had to cope with all this.
Valentina Tereshkova kept her future flight a secret. On June 16, 1963, the girl, as usual, went to train at the flying club. Tereshkova’s family and friends only learned on the radio that it was on this day that she became the first woman in space.
Interesting facts about Valentine:
- Tereshkova did not survive her flight well not only because the technology in the 60s of the last century was imperfect. The results of Valentina's medical examination were among the worst. Social status became the decisive factor.
- Having landed in the Altai Territory, Valentina violated her prescribed diet. She gave the remains of the astronaut's special food to local residents and ate regular food.
- Valentina Tereshkova was able to become an active public and political figure. She served as head of the Soviet Women's Committee and was a member of the CPSU Central Committee and the Presidium of the Supreme Council. In 2011, Valentina was elected to the State Duma.
Female cosmonaut Elena Serova
Unlike her older colleague, Elena Serova was born into a military family. The father's job responsibilities forced the family to frequently change their place of residence. Elena graduated from high school in Germany. Then the girl received 2 higher educations, graduating from MAI and MGAPI.
Elena went into space much later than Valentina Tereshkova. The future Russian cosmonaut underwent more serious tests, and it took much more time to prepare for the flight. Having started preparing for it back in 2006, Elena Serova reached her cherished goal only in September 2014. At the beginning of 2016, the fourth Russian woman in space was twice awarded for courage and heroism.
The last century has shown skeptics that there is no concept of male or female professions. Bravery and bravery are inherent in representatives of both sexes. Women cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia were able to show the rest of the world that not only men are endowed with strength and endurance. Thanks to Russian women, the myth that the only purpose of the fair sex is childbearing and housekeeping has been proven untenable.
Original taken from bisant in Women astronauts
Many thousands of years ago, looking at the night sky, man dreamed of flying to the stars. Billions of flickering night luminaries forced his thoughts to be carried away into the vast expanses of the Universe, awakened his imagination, and forced him to think about the secrets of the universe.
Space has many mysteries! For centuries, people have been trying to figure out their origin! The great patriots of their country sought true scientific data! Many lost their lives in order to learn all the secrets of space. Make discoveries and learn a lot!
From generation to generation, all of humanity worked and tried to do everything in order to learn a lot more about our universe! Women also did this. Their presence in various experiments and experiments also played an important role.
Valentina Tereshkova.
After the first successful flights of Soviet cosmonauts, Sergei Korolev had the idea of launching a female cosmonaut into space. At the beginning of 1962, a search began for applicants according to the following criteria: parachutist, under 30 years of age, up to 170 centimeters tall and weighing up to 70 kilograms. Out of hundreds of candidates, five were chosen: Zhanna Yorkina, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Ponomareva, Irina Solovyova and Valentina Tereshkova.
During their training, they underwent training to test their body’s resistance to the factors of space flight. The training included a thermal chamber, where she had to be in a flight suit at a temperature of +70 ° C and a humidity of 30%, and a soundproof chamber - a room isolated from sounds, where each candidate had to spend 10 days.
Zero-gravity training took place on the MiG-15. Weightlessness was established inside the plane for 40 seconds, and there were 3-4 such sessions per flight. During each session, it was necessary to complete the next task: write your first and last name, try to eat, talk on the radio.
Particular attention was paid to parachute training, since the astronaut ejected before landing and landed separately by parachute. Since there was always a risk of splashdown of the descent vehicle, training was also carried out on parachute jumps into the sea, in a technological, that is, not adjusted to size, spacesuit.
When choosing Tereshkova for the role of the first female cosmonaut, in addition to successfully completing training, political factors were also taken into account: Tereshkova was from the workers. She made her space flight on June 16, 1963 on the Vostok-6 spacecraft, it lasted almost three days. Tereshkova’s call sign for the duration of the flight is “Seagull”; the phrase she said before the start:
"Hey! Heaven, take off your hat!
Despite nausea and physical discomfort, she survived 48 orbits around the Earth and spent almost three days in space, where she kept a logbook and took photographs of the horizon, which were later used to detect aerosol layers in the atmosphere. The Vostok 6 lander landed safely in the Baevsky district of the Altai Territory.
Svetlana Savitskaya
Svetlana Savitskaya - cosmonaut, test pilot, aviation major, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Candidate of Technical Sciences. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded orders and medals of the USSR and foreign countries.
Svetlana Savitskaya made her first flight on the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft with a duration of 7 days 21h 52m 24s. Performed the functions of a cosmonaut-researcher. Following the flight, Savitskaya was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of Lenin for the courage and heroism shown in the flight. In 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya flew into outer space for the second time, she served as a flight engineer for the Soyuz T-12 crew. It was on this flight that she, the first woman, performed a spacewalk, lasting 3 hours and 35 minutes.
Elena Kondakova
Elena Kondakova is a Russian cosmonaut and political figure. Hero of the Russian Federation, awarded orders and medals of Russia and the United States of America. The first female cosmonaut to make a long flight into outer space and the third female cosmonaut in Russia.
Elena Kondakova, graduated from Moscow State Technical University. Bauman, after which she went to work at RSC Energia, where she was engaged in the design and development of spacecraft. Elena Kondakova was enrolled in the Soviet cosmonaut corps in 1989. Kondakova made two flights into space. The first flight took place in October 1994 on the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft. Elena Kondakova returned to Earth in March 1995, so the flight lasted 169 days. This was a record, since before Elena, no female astronaut had been in space for so long. The expedition, as part of which Elena Kondakova made her flight, completely fulfilled the task set by the flight program. Following the flight, Elena Kondakova was awarded the Title of Hero of the Russian Federation for her courage and heroism during the flight, with the goal of peaceful exploration of outer space.
In May 1997, Elena Kondakova made her second flight into outer space, on the Atlantis shuttle STS-84, as a specialist. Following the flight, Kondakova was awarded a NASA medal.
More often than others, representatives of the United States overcame gravity - the list of astronauts from this country includes about 340 names, and 45 of them are women. The Russians firmly hold second place in the overall table - about 120 cosmonauts, but only three of them were women.
Nowadays you won’t surprise anyone with flights into space. Of course, they are not yet perceived as an everyday phenomenon, but still there is no such excitement that accompanied the first steps of mankind into the foundation of the unknown endless starry sky. More than half a century has passed since the first flight into space in history.
First in the world
The championship in this area belongs to one of the most famous personalities in the world - Valentina Tereshkova. She was born in 1937 in a small village located near Yaroslavl. When she turned 22, she became seriously interested in skydiving.
In 1962-1997, she was part of the female cosmonaut corps. Besides her, there were 4 more contenders for the flight. It must be said that Tereshkova was not the best in terms of endurance and physical fitness. But the government of that time decided to send her into space first.
There were two reasons that influenced this decision. The first of these is origin. Valentina Tereshkova was, as they said at that time, a product of “the people.” The second reason is attractive appearance, charm and charisma.
“Valya Tereshkova was not a leader, although she was appointed senior. After all, in Soviet times we didn’t even know such a word - “leader”. Everyone was equal. And no one guessed that it was Valentina who would fly into space. Moreover, she never stood out from the entire group in terms of her performance. But, it seems to me, her origin helped her a lot. I was born and raised in Moscow. And Valya is from the provinces and worked as a weaver. In the USSR this was valued and respected. We Muscovites still hoped that there was a chance, but that was not the case - the villagers bypassed us. They still chose Tereshkova for the flight. When I remember those times, it seems that it was a completely different life,” says Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Tereshkova’s colleague in the detachment, a retired Air Force colonel.
The corps of future cosmonauts was fully formed in 1962. It included Valentina Tereshkova, Zhanna Yorkina, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Ponomareva and Irina Solovyova. And Sergei Korolev himself commanded the “parade”.
“We, young girls, did not know Korolev’s first name and patronymic. They only read that his initials were S.P. That’s what they called him among themselves: S.P. And when S.P. met us for the first time, he said:
“Girls, one of you will be the first to fly into space, this is obvious. But don’t be offended by our choice, because for those who don’t fly this time, even more interesting and longer flights will remain. Let’s come to an agreement: either we’ll sulk at each other because someone won’t fly, or we’ll prepare for flights.” We chose the latter. And we prepared for flights, went through all sorts of tests, each of which turned out to be difficult in some way.”
The girls were “floated” in a thermal chamber at a temperature of +70°C and a humidity of 30%, kept in zero gravity, where they had to not only adapt to the lack of gravity, but also complete various tasks: have lunch, communicate with the command center, draw something or write on a piece of paper. They taught us how to parachute into bodies of water, and also kept us in isolation for 10 days so that we could develop the habit of being alone in flight.
Despite the fact that the flight was officially declared successful, it was not without difficulties. Tereshkova felt bad, and the spacesuit was very uncomfortable. Because of this, she was unable to complete all planned tasks in full. In addition, a number of other technical difficulties emerged. For example, when assembling the manual controls, errors were made that almost led to the deviation of the ship from orbit. But since the automation worked at altitude, the landing was successful.
Unfortunately, after the flight she had to tell something that was not what she actually experienced. She looked into the television cameras and assured:
“I felt great. I felt good!” But then there was such a time - don’t lose face at all costs. Especially when the whole world is looking at you! Although it is clear that things could not be good. They asked her: “Valentina Vladimirovna, did the spacesuit cause you any inconvenience?” - "No. I was just sweating." In fact, spending three days in a heavy spacesuit was real torture...
In 1963, Tereshkova received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. In addition, she is so far the only woman in the Russian Army holding the military rank of major general.
In her memoirs, Tatyana Kuznetsova writes: “Valentina devoted a lot of time to her political career. We were all Komsomol members when we joined the detachment. Valya was a party member, an avid communist, she came to us from the Komsomol committee from her factory. But then she apparently changed her views more than once. Now she is a deputy from United Russia. This is not very clear to me. Although we all recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of our unit together. All of us, even those cosmonauts who had long been retired, even those who were expelled at one time, were gathered for a rich feast. Everyone congratulated, remembered, and then Tereshkova stood up and said: “Then they chose us, five girls, young, smart, beautiful. 50 years have passed since then, and we are still together. There were enough men in our lives - they came and went. And we continue to be together. We survived everything, no matter what.” I really liked these words from Valentina. They were honest!”
It must be said that all the women from Russia who have been in space have made an invaluable contribution to the exploration and study of our Universe. But only Valentina Tereshkova, to this day, is the first and only representative of the fair sex to fly solo into Earth orbit.
First in outer space
The next woman to see space was Svetlana Savitskaya. She was born in 1947 in the family of a marshal and became an astronaut thanks to her strong determination, willpower and high professionalism:
“My goal was to fly. Namely, to participate in space flights. In fact, that’s why I went into aviation sports. I just never told anyone about it, because it was a time when they said that space was not a woman’s business. Our first woman flew out and there’s nothing else to do there, that’s enough, everything is clear and so. But from the very beginning I was sure that women would still fly into space.”
Savitskaya’s career began with the NPO Vzlet, where she worked as a test pilot. In 1982, she joined the crew of the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft, where she spent 8 days. And after 2 years she went into outer space, where she stayed for 3 hours and 35 minutes.
According to Savitskaya, when going into space, she and Dzhanibekov then tested a universal hand tool with which it was possible to weld, cut and solder metal. The Kyiv Paton Institute made it. A unique instrument, completely new, no one has ever done anything like it.
“This was, of course, the key experiment of this entire flight. We did it normally, without errors, without any emergencies. As a matter of fact, when going into outer space, this is the most important thing - to do what you prepared for. Therefore, there are no special emotions, you know, such as that something happened that day. There was no fear then; this concept is of no use at all when it comes to outer space. It's more stressful work. Yes, there are more dangers there. You need to be more competent, more careful, more punctual, and control yourself clearly. But this is not fear. Fear is when a person freezes and does not know what to do. This does not apply to the profession of a pilot or astronaut, in my opinion. There are stages where you understand: yes, something can happen here. Somewhere you can do something, but somewhere you can’t. This means you rely on technology,” the cosmonaut shares his memories.
It was Savitskaya who suggested that the USSR should have priority in sending a female cosmonaut into space. According to her, the idea came to her after her first flight into orbit in 1982:
“I saw the suit, I saw the compartment, I understood that it could be done. And considering that the Americans started flying on the Shuttle and in a year and a half they were going to include a woman in the crew, I, of course, understood that any normal head of the space program in America, of course, would have decided that this “cell” was unoccupied , such a milestone achievement, I would like to include it in my program.”
The spacewalk of the first woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, 30 years ago became historic for astronautics, but for her it was a stage of difficult work, not marked by special emotions: then Savitskaya dreamed of flying on the Buran spacecraft. Today Svetlana Savitskaya is twice Hero of the Soviet Union, pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, deputy head of the defense committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Longest flight
The next representative to join the list of “Women Cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia” was Elena Kondakova. She was born in 1957 in the Moscow region, in the town of Mytishchi. In 1989 she became a candidate for the cosmonaut corps and, after special training, received the qualification of a researcher.
Like her two predecessors, Elena Kondakova also became the first in terms of duration of stay in space. Its total duration was almost 179 days. She has two flights to her credit: one in 1994 on the Mir station, the second in 1997 on the Atlantis spacecraft (shuttle).
Elena Vladimirovna graduated from the Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School in 1980 and began working at the “space” NPO Energia as a young specialist. At the same time, her future husband Valery Ryumin made his third space flight.
Wise with experience, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Valery Ryumin passed on his experience to young cosmonauts. When 46-year-old Ryumin married a 28-year-old colleague in the space industry in 1985, he clearly did not imagine that his wife could “escape into orbit.” And even more so, he did not imagine this after the couple had a daughter in January 1986, who was named Zhenya. Ryumin himself said in an interview that he was against his wife becoming an astronaut, but he did not have enough strength to keep her.
On October 4, 1994, the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft with a crew of Alexander Viktorenko, Elena Kondakova and German representative Ulf Merbold launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Like her predecessors, Kondakova also became the first - the first woman to complete a long-term space flight. The duration of her flight on the Soyuz and the Mir station was 169 days, 5 hours and 35 seconds. On March 22, 1995, when Viktorenko and Kondakova returned to Earth, Valery Polyakov also returned with them, having set a still unbroken record for the duration of a space flight - 437 days 17 hours and 31 seconds.
Kondakova made her second flight in May 1997 on the American reusable spacecraft Atlantis under the program of the sixth orbital docking with the Mir station.
Valery Ryumin did not want to leave his wife either - in June 1998, the experienced space veteran went to the Mir station on the American spaceship Discovery.
In 1999, Kondakova became a State Duma deputy from the Fatherland - All Russia party, and from 2003 to 2011 she was a parliamentarian from the United Russia party.
New "star woman"
After 17 years, on September 26, 2014, another spaceship was launched from Baikonur, the crew of which included Elena Serova. This was her first flight. According to the plan, it should last 170 days and nights.
The fourth female cosmonaut, Elena Serova, was born in the seaside village of Vozdvizhenka. After graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute, she was hired at the Flight Control Center. Then she constantly improved her skills and in 2009 became a test cosmonaut.
In one of the interviews, Elena told how she applied for the cosmonaut corps: “Everything happened very harmoniously. While still at the institute, I met my future husband, we worked with him at RSC Energia, he joined the detachment in 2003, and then I did in 2006.”
Elena Serova, having gone into orbit, became the first Russian woman to fly to the ISS. But there were no concessions; Elena does everything on an equal basis with men. Even if it concerns physical activity and endurance training.
Elena Serova's flight is almost a feat. Yes, I know the opinions of ordinary people - well, another woman flew, what’s wrong with that? American women also went on six-month expeditions to the Mir orbital station, and worked on the ISS more than once. And our Elena Kondakova spent six months in orbit. It's like that. If only it were as easy for a woman to get into the cosmonaut corps (and then get assigned to the crew) as for American women.
The Soyuz TMA-14M flight is the fortieth flight of a Russian spacecraft to the International Space Station. The crew commander is Alexander Samokutyaev, flight engineers are Elena Serova and NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore. They will have to work in orbit for 168 days.
The crew that launched from the ISS at the end of September 2014, including Elena Serova, performed more than 50 scientific experiments in orbit. Many of them were of great practical importance for science, medicine and humanity in general. In particular, Serova successfully carried out the unique “Visir” experiment, during which she was able to take a picture of any object on Earth so that specialists would know exactly its coordinates, and vice versa - using given data, conduct a survey of the earth’s surface using a special domestically developed method.
In addition, when going to the ISS, the owner of long hair, Serova, promised to demonstrate how you can wash your hair in 5 minutes in zero gravity conditions in orbit. Later, cosmonaut Serova reported that she managed to germinate two apple seeds in orbit and promised to grow a “space lemon.”
Today, the only reliable means of delivering astronauts to the International Station is the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. But in Russia, as in the United States, new generation ships are being developed. In fact, they will become the basis of large starships that will cruise to the Moon and Mars. While the Russian project does not have a proper name, only the name of the project is a promising transport ship of a new generation. Testing is due to begin in 2018.
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Women cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia are always at their best. Their profession requires great courage, strong willpower, as well as the ability not to get confused and cope with any emergency situation. And even though the list of female cosmonauts from our compatriots is still small, they have everything ahead of them. After all, there are still many mysterious and unknown things that the truly endless Universe conceals.
Municipal educational institution
Bogatovskaya secondary school "Education Center" of the Bogatovsky municipal district, Samara region
ABSTRACT
in the discipline "Cosmonautics" on the topic
"Russian women - cosmonauts"
student of class 7 "A"
municipal educational institution Bogatovskaya secondary school "Education Center" of the Bogatovsky municipal district, Samara region
Scientific supervisor: Ulanova M.V., mathematics teacher
Rich 2011
I. Introduction................................................... ...........................................3
II. Main part
Formation of a women's squad…………………...…..4
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova…………………….6
Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya………………………..……..9
Kondakova Elena Vladimirovna ………………….. ……12
III. Conclusion………………………………………………………….……15
IV. References……………………………………………………...17
I. Introduction
“On April 12, 1961, in the Soviet Union, the world’s first spacecraft-satellite “Vostok” with a person on board was launched into orbit around the Earth. The pilot-cosmonaut of the Vostok spacecraft is a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, pilot Major Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.” These words from the TASS report will forever remain in the history of mankind as one of its most significant, brightest and memorable pages. Years, decades will pass, flights into space and even to other planets will become a common, everyday thing, but still, what this man from the Russian town of Gzhatsk accomplished will forever remain in the minds of many generations as one of the greatest feats ever accomplished People.
In those years, there was a competition between the USSR and the USA for the leading role in the conquest of space. Of course, the leading place in this competition was occupied by the Soviet Union. The United States lacked powerful launch vehicles, the operation of which Soviet astronautics had already tested in January 1960, conducting tests in the Pacific Ocean. Almost all the major newspapers in the world wrote that the USSR would soon launch a man into space and, of course, leave the United States behind. The whole world was looking forward to the first flight.
And now this day has come. On April 12, 1961, man first looked at the planet from space. The Vostok spacecraft was flying towards the sun, and at that time the entire planet was pressed to the receivers. The world, shocked and excited, watched the progress of the greatest experiment in history.
"Man in space!" - this news interrupted radio broadcasts and regular messages from telegraph agencies mid-sentence. “The Soviets let the man go! In space - Yuri Gagarin! The one hundred and eight minutes it took for Vostok to encircle our planet testify not only to the speed at which the spacecraft was flying. These were the first minutes of the space age, and that is why they shocked the world so much.
This year our entire huge country celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first flight into space. We know many of the names of male cosmonauts, but I would like to tell everyone about the first women cosmonauts in our country.
II. Main part
Formation of a women's squad
After the first successful flights of Soviet cosmonauts, Sergei Korolev had the idea to launch a female cosmonaut into space. At the beginning of 1962, a search began for applicants according to the following criteria: parachutist, under 30 years of age, up to 170 centimeters tall and weighing up to 70 kilograms. The official date of formation of the women's group under the First Cosmonaut Detachment is considered to be March 12, 1962. From more than a thousand applicants, five people were selected - engineer Irina Solovyova, mathematician and programmer Valentina Ponomareva, weaver Valentina Tereshkova, teacher Zhanna Erkina and secretary-stenographer Tatyana Kuznetsova. Yuri Gagarin, who was present at the meeting of the credentials committee, objected to Ponomareva’s candidacy. “Cosmonautics,” he said, “is a new, difficult, unknown and unsafe business. Is it worth risking the life of a mother?” But she was still enrolled in the detachment. The recommendation of Academician Mstislav Keldysh, the director of the institute where Ponomareva worked, played a role.
There was no Star City then. The location of the Training Center was kept secret. Its territory was surrounded by a high fence, along which guard dogs served. Behind this fence, the “special battalion of women,” as cosmonaut Alexei Leonov called the women’s group, were to experience the “factors of space flight.” Immediately after being accepted into the cosmonaut corps, Valentina Tereshkova, along with the other girls, was called up for compulsory military service with the rank of private.
In September 1964, the entire female squadron entered the Air Force Academy. That same fall they all got married. The wedding parade was opened by Valentina Tereshkova.
At this time, the Korolev Design Bureau was developing a new Soyuz spacecraft, at the same time a series of five Voskhods was underway, and work was planned on several Vostoks. In 1966, it was planned to carry out nine flights, in 1967 - fourteen, in 1968 - twenty-one. However, Korolev stated that he did not need a women’s detachment, women did not justify themselves, and one female flight was enough for him.
However, in the summer of 1966, the deputy arrived at the Cosmonaut Training Center. Air Force Commander-in-Chief Nikolai Kamanin and announced that a flight of a female crew on the Voskhod spacecraft was planned for 15 days with a spacewalk. The commander was planned to be Ponomareva, and Solovyova to be the commander. The backup crew of Erkin - Kuznetsov. Preparations began, which were carried out sluggishly and were limited to simulators. And soon Korolev dies and the Voskhod series of ships was closed. In October 1969, “due to impossibility of use,” the first female cosmonaut recruitment was disbanded.
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova
The first Soviet woman cosmonaut Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born on March 6, 1937 in the village of Maslennikovo, Tutaevsky district, Yaroslavl region, into a family of collective farmers.
My father worked as a tractor driver, my mother did housework and worked on a collective farm. During the Great Patriotic War, her father died at the front, and her mother had to raise three children alone. The family moved to Yaroslavl, where Valya went to school and completed seven years of school, then an evening school for working youth.
At the end of June 1954, V. Tereshkova came to work at the Yaroslavl Tire Plant in the assembly shop as a cutter, and in 1955 she moved to the Yaroslavl Industrial Fabrics Plant "Krasny Perekop", where she worked as a bracelet maker. In 1956, Valentina entered the Yaroslavl Correspondence College of Light Industry.
In addition to working and studying at a technical school, the girl attended a local flying club, went in for parachuting, and made 163 parachute jumps. She was awarded the first category in parachuting.
Ambition and fearlessness helped her withstand the competition for the cosmonaut corps, where she entered in 1962. It was prepared according to a special program since space flights at that time were carried out only in automatic mode.
During her training, she underwent training on the body’s resistance to the factors of space flight. The training included a thermal chamber, where she had to be in a flight suit at a temperature of +70 ° C and a humidity of 30%, and a soundproof chamber - a room isolated from sounds, where each candidate had to spend 10 days.
Zero-gravity training took place on the MiG-15. When performing a special aerobatics maneuver - a parabolic slide - weightlessness was established inside the plane for 40 seconds, and there were 3-4 such sessions per flight. During each session, it was necessary to complete the next task: write your first and last name, try to eat, talk on the radio.
Particular attention was paid to parachute training, since the astronaut ejected before landing and landed separately by parachute. Since there was always a risk of splashdown of the descent vehicle, training was also carried out on parachute jumps into the sea, in a technological, that is, not adjusted to size, spacesuit.
Tereshkova completed a full course of training; she used all flight hours, learned to control herself in zero gravity, and learned about the technical side of flight.
Initially, it was planned for two female crews to fly simultaneously, but in March 1963 this plan was abandoned, and the task became to choose one of five candidates.
When choosing Tereshkova for the role of the first female cosmonaut, in addition to successful completion of training, political issues were also taken into account: Tereshkova was from the workers, while, for example, Ponomareva and Solovyova were from the employees. In addition, Tereshkova's father, Vladimir, died during the Soviet-Finnish War when she was two years old. After the flight, when Tereshkova was asked how the Soviet Union could thank her for her service, she asked to find the place where her father was killed.
Already in June 1963, just a year after the start of training, Tereshkova made a three-day flight on the Vostok 6 ship, circumnavigating the Earth 48 times and flying one and a half million km.
Tereshkova’s call sign for the duration of the flight is “Seagull”; the phrase she said before the start: “Hey! Heaven, take off your hat! (modified quote from V. Mayakovsky’s poem “A Cloud in Pants”).
After the flight, N.S. Khrushchev said that Tereshkova spent more time in space than all American astronauts combined. Her flight was supposed to demonstrate the capabilities of the Mission Control Center (MCC), which successfully managed to control three ships at once. No less important was the fact that Tereshkova became the first person to fly into space without special flight training. After all, all the other cosmonauts were military pilots.
The flight of Valentina Tereshkova caused no less delight than the flight of the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. After all, for the first time a woman was in space, and returned to Earth alive and unharmed. Before this, many experts argued that being in space for a woman could be fatal, since she simply would not withstand such a difficult test. However, Valentina Tereshkova refuted all these assumptions with her flight.
The safety of space flights for the female body was also proven by the fact that Valentina Tereshkova soon married cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolaev. He had already made one flight in August 1962 on the Vostok 3 spacecraft, later flying as commander on the ship of the new aria Soyuz 9.
Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya
Svetlana Savitskaya – cosmonaut, test pilot, aviation major, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Candidate of Technical Sciences. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded orders and medals of the USSR and foreign countries. Svetlana Savitskaya has 3 world records set in parachute jumping, and 15 world records in jet aircraft. In aerobatics she is the absolute world champion. Svetlana Evgenievna, the second female cosmonaut in the world and the first to perform a spacewalk outside the ship.
She was born on August 8, 1948 in Moscow in the family of Air Marshal, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Evgeniy Yakovlevich Savitsky (1910-1990) and housewife Lydia Pavlovna Savitskaya (1924-1986). Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1975. She graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze and the Central Flight Technical School of the USSR DOSAAF. Before enlisting in the cosmonaut corps, she worked as an instructor pilot. She mastered several types of jet aircraft: MiG-15, MiG-17, E-33, E-66B, setting 18 world records on them. In 1970, she was the absolute world champion in aerobatics on piston aircraft, and in the same year she became an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Set 3 world records in group parachute jumps from the stratosphere. Since 1976 she has been engaged in research work.
In 1980, she was accepted into the cosmonaut corps and included in group of women cosmonauts No. 2, where she completed a full course of training for space flights.
Savitskaya made her first space flight lasting 7 days 21 hours 52 minutes and 24 seconds on August 19-27, 1982 as a research cosmonaut on the Soyuz T-7 spacecraft and the Salyut-7 orbital station together with crew commander L.I. Popov and flight engineer A.A. Serebrov. During the flight on the orbital complex "Salyut-7" - "Soyuz T-5" - "Soyuz T-7" the crew consisting of A.N. Berezovoy, V.V. Lebedev, L.I. Popov, A.A. Serebrov and S.E. Savitskaya conducted technical, geo and astrophysical research, performed biotechnological and medical-biological experiments.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated August 27, 1982, for the courage and heroism shown during the flight into space, Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11481).
Hero of the Soviet Union Savitskaya made her second space flight lasting 11 days 19 hours 14 minutes and 36 seconds on July 17-29, 1984 as a flight engineer of the Soyuz T-12 spacecraft and the Salyut-7 orbital station together with crew commander V.A. Dzhanibekov and cosmonaut-researcher I.P. Volk. During the flight on the orbital complex "Salyut-7" - "Soyuz T-11" - "Soyuz T-12" the space crew consisting of L.D. Kizim, V.A. Solovyov, O.Yu. Atkova, V.A. Dzhanibekov, I.P. Volk and S.E. Savitskaya conducted a number of joint experiments and studies. The total duration of the two flights was 19 days, 17 hours and 7 minutes.
On July 25, 1984, for the first time in the world, female cosmonaut Savitskaya performed a spacewalk, spending 3 hours and 35 minutes outside the spacecraft. Together with V.A. Dzhanibekov, she performed unique experiments in outer space.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 29, 1984, for the courage and heroism shown during the space flight, Svetlana Evgenievna Savitskaya was awarded the Order of Lenin and the second Gold Star medal.
Having completed her space flights, until 1989 Savitskaya worked as deputy head of the department of the main design NPO Energia, first deputy chairman of the Soviet Peace Fund. In 1992-1995, associate professor at the Moscow State Aviation Institute.
Since 1989, Savitskaya has been actively involved in political activities. Until 1992, she was a people's deputy of the USSR and a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. First Deputy Chairman of the Soviet Peace Fund.
On December 17, 1995, Savitskaya was elected as a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the 2nd convocation. In the 1996 presidential elections, she was G.A. Zyuganov’s confidant in the Moscow region. In May 1997, she was elected first vice-president of the Russian Association of Heroes of the Soviet Union. On December 19, 1999, she was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the 3rd convocation, on December 7, 2003 - to the 4th convocation, on December 2, 2007 - to the 5th convocation. Member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF). As a deputy and public figure, Savitskaya is fighting for the preservation and revival of Russia - one that can conquer stellar heights in all areas of life. Including in the most literal, cosmic sense.
Svetlana Savitskaya is a strong and self-confident woman, striking with her inner strength and “masculine” character. Fearless, smart and talented, a truly amazing “set” of virtues.
Kondakova Elena Vladimirovna
Kondakova Elena Vladimirovna - cosmonaut-researcher of the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft and the Mir orbital research complex, pilot-cosmonaut of the Russian Federation.
Born on March 30, 1957 in the city of Mytishchi, Moscow region. Russian. In 1974, she graduated from the 10th grade of secondary school No. 16 in the city of Kaliningrad, Moscow region. In 1980 she graduated from the Moscow Higher Technical School (MVTU) named after N.E. Bauman.
Since May 1980, she worked as an engineer of the 113th department of NPO Energia. She worked in the Main Operations Group of the Directorate for Long-Term Flight Planning. In August 1981 she was transferred to the 115th department. Conducted training with the staff of the Main Operations Group of the department on working in emergency situations and on restoring skills after a break in work.
She took part in the operational work of the Main Operational Control Group during the 4th and 5th expeditions to the Salyut-6 DOS. She was involved in the development of documents for the training of personnel of the Main Operational Control Group. In September 1982 she was transferred to the 116th department. She took part in the flight control of the Salyut-7 DOS, developed documentation for the re-equipment of the flight planning group.
In 1983 she graduated from the All-Union University of Marxism-Leninism, Faculty of Art History and Marxist-Leninist Aesthetics.
In February 1989, she was enrolled as a candidate test cosmonaut in the 291st department of NPO Energia. From October 1990 to March 1992, she underwent general space training at the Yu.A. Gagarin. In March 1992, she was appointed to the position of test cosmonaut of the 291st department (cosmonaut detachment) of NPO Energia. Since 1995 - instructor-test cosmonaut.
From April 1992 to December 1993, she underwent training as part of a group of cosmonauts under the Mir program. In February-June 1994, she was trained as a flight engineer for the backup crew under the EO-16 program at the Mir space station, together with Alexander Stepanovich Viktorenko. From July to September 1994, she was trained as a flight engineer of the main crew at the Mir space station, together with A.S. Viktorenko and U. Merbold (Germany).
First flight:
From October 3, 1994 to March 22, 1995 as a flight engineer of the Soyuz TM-20 spacecraft and the Mir spacecraft under the EO-17 program (17th main expedition) together with A. Viktorenko. Started together with A. Viktorenko and U. Merbold. She landed together with A. Viktorenko and V. Polyakov.
Call sign: “Vityaz-2”.
The flight duration was 169 days 05 hours 21 minutes 35 seconds.
From August 21, 1996 to May 1997, she underwent training for a flight on the Atlantis STS-84 shuttle at the Space Center. Johnson in the USA.
By decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated April 10, 1995, Elena Vladimirovna Kondakova was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation for the courage and heroism shown during the long space flight of the seventeenth main expedition on the Mir orbital research complex.
Second flight:
From May 15 to May 24, 1997, as a flight specialist on the crew of the shuttle Atlantis STS-84 under the program of the sixth docking with the Mir space station.
The flight duration was 9 days 5 hours 20 minutes 48 seconds.
III. Conclusion
USA 46 women astronauts
USSR and Russia 3 female cosmonauts
Canada 2 female astronauts
Japan 2 female astronauts
UK 1 female astronaut
France 1 female astronaut
Republic of Korea 1 female astronaut
We see that in terms of the number of women cosmonauts who have been in space, Russia is not the leader. But the first in space was our Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, the world’s first female cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, Major General.
On April 9, in Star City, at the event “For the 50th Anniversary of Cosnautics,” the twelve-rayed star “Credo” was awarded to cosmonauts Alexei Leonov and Valentina Tereshkova.
I am proud of our country, which has been and remains one of the states most successful in space exploration and the development of new technologies for space exploration. The world's first artificial satellite of the Earth, the first animal to go into space, the world's first manned spacecraft launched into low-Earth orbit, the first manned flight - Yuri Gagarin - into space, the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first ever spacewalk by Alexey Leonov, the first daily flight around the Earth by German Titov, the first launch of an automatic station on an interplanetary trajectory, the first module of the International Space Station and much more related to space, starting with the word “first”...
IV. Bibliography
1. Great Russian Encyclopedia: In 30 volumes. / Chairman of scientific-ed. Council Yu. S. Osipov. Rep. edited by S. L. Kravets. - M.: Great Russian Encyclopedia, 2006. - 767 p.
2. A. Zheleznyakov, 1997-2009. Encyclopedia "Cosmonautics". Publications. Last updated 12/13/2009.
3. Ponomareva V.L. The female face of space. - M.: HELIOS, 2002. - 320 p.
4. Svetlana Savitskaya “I try to be the first in everything”
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova - born March 6, 1937 - the world's first female cosmonaut (1963), Hero of the Soviet Union (1963). Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR No. 6, (call sign - “Chaika”), 10th cosmonaut of the world. The only woman in the world to fly solo in space.
A long time ago, in one not the most famous galaxy, from a not very large planet of a star named the Sun, namely on June 16, 1963 at 12:30 Moscow time in a state called the USSR, the Vostok-6 spacecraft was launched into orbit of the planet ", for the first time in the world piloted by a woman - a citizen of the Soviet Union, Valentina Tereshkova... 
The world's first female cosmonaut was chosen from among the parachutists. After the first successful flights into space by Yuri Gagarin and German Titov, Sergei Korolev decided to send a woman into space. This was a politically motivated move. I wanted to be the first in this too. The search for candidates began at the very end of 1961. The requirements were as follows: parachutist, age up to 30 years, height up to 170 centimeters and weight up to 70 kilograms. Parachutists were given preference because the Vostok cosmonaut had to eject after braking the descent vehicle in the atmosphere and land by parachute, and the period for preparation was initially determined to be short - about six months. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time practicing parachute landings. Out of more than fifty candidates, five girls were ultimately selected. Valentina Tereshkova was among them. All of them, except for the pilot Valentina Ponomareva, were parachutists. Valentina Tereshkova has been involved in parachuting since 1959 at the Yaroslavl flying club: by the time she was looking for a candidate for space flight, she had completed a total of about 90 jumps. 
Paratroopers V. Girs and V. Tereshkova. Yaroslavl flying club. 1960
The girls selected for space flight hoped that they would all fly into space sooner or later. Of course, each of the five girls dreamed that she would fly into space. So that the atmosphere in the women's team is friendly, especially since General Designer S.P. Korolev promised the girls that they would all visit there sooner or later. 
But this, as we know, did not happen. Although they really planned to send other girls into space, and they were preparing for this for several years after Valentina Tereshkova’s flight. Only in October 1969 was an order issued to disband the female cosmonaut group. So only Valentina Tereshkova, out of five girls who underwent training, was able to become a real cosmonaut. 
Valentina Tereshkova had two understudies. In practice, it is accepted that each astronaut must have a backup. In the case of the first female flight, they decided to play it safe - Tereshkova was assigned two doubles at once due to the complexity of the female body. Irina Solovyova and Valentina Ponomareva were substitutes. Why did the choice fall on Tereshkova? The leadership never justified its choice, but, according to the main existing version, this decision was rather political. Tereshkova was from the workers; her father died during the Soviet-Finnish war when she was two years old. Other girls, for example, Ponomareva and Solovyova, were employees. Nikita Khrushchev, who approved the final candidacy, apparently wanted a girl “from the people” to become the first female cosmonaut. 
Valentina Tereshkova, born in a village in the family of a tractor driver and a textile factory worker, met these requirements better than others. Although the doctors who observed the girls were inclined to give priority to other candidates - for example, Irina Solovyova, a master of sports in parachuting, who made more than 700 jumps. According to another version, Sergei Korolev was planning another female flight with an exit into outer space, and it was for this purpose that he saved the stronger, according to doctors, Solovyov and Ponomarev. 
Initially, it was planned for two female crews to fly simultaneously. According to the original plan, two girls were supposed to fly into space at the same time in different devices, but in the spring of 1963 this idea was abandoned. Therefore, on June 14, 1963, in the afternoon, Valery Bykovsky was sent into space on the Vostok-5 spacecraft. His flight is considered the longest single flight to this day: Valery spent almost 5 days in space. That is, two days more than Valentina Tereshkova. 
Valentina Tereshkova's relatives learned about the flight only after it ended. The flight could have ended in tragedy, so Valentina Tereshkova kept information about it secret from her family. Before the flight, she told them that she was going to a parachute competition, and they had already learned about what had happened on the radio. Lieutenant General Nikolai Kamanin, who was involved in the selection and training of cosmonauts, described Tereshkova’s launch this way:
“The preparation of the rocket, the ship and all maintenance operations went extremely smoothly. In terms of the clarity and coherence of the work of all services and systems, Tereshkova’s launch reminded me of Gagarin’s launch. As on April 12, 1961, on June 16, 1963, the flight was being prepared and started off well. Everyone who saw Tereshkova during the preparation of the launch and the launch of the spacecraft into orbit, who listened to her reports on the radio, unanimously stated: “She carried out the launch better than Popovich and Nikolaev.” Yes, I am very glad that I was not mistaken in choosing the first female cosmonaut.”
At the time of the flight, Valentina Tereshkova was only 26 years old. 
In the cabin of a spaceship.
There was an inaccuracy in the ship's automatic program. A mistake was made and the Vostok-6 ship was oriented in such a way that, instead of descending, on the contrary, it raised its orbit. Instead of approaching the Earth, V. Tereshkova moved away from it. The Chaika flight control center was notified of the malfunction, and the scientists were able to adjust the program. Lieutenant General Nikolai Kamanin continues: “I talked to Tereshkova several times. It feels like she's tired, but she doesn't want to admit it. In the last communication session, she did not answer calls from the Leningrad IP. We turned on the television camera and saw that she was sleeping. I had to wake her up and talk to her about the upcoming landing and manual orientation. She tried to orient the ship twice and honestly admitted that she couldn’t get the pitch orientation right. This circumstance worries us all very much: if we have to land manually, and she cannot orient the ship, then it will not leave orbit. She answered our doubts: “Don’t worry, I’ll do everything in the morning.” She communicates well, thinks well, and hasn’t made a single mistake yet.” 
Later it turned out that the commands issued by the pilot were inverted to the direction of control movement in manual mode (the ship turned in the wrong direction as when trained on the simulator). According to Tereshkova, the problem was the incorrect installation of the control wires: commands were given not to descend, but to raise the spacecraft’s orbit. In automatic mode, the polarity was correct, which made it possible to properly orient and land the ship. For several decades, none of the participants in the events, at the request of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, spoke about this story, and only relatively recently did it become a well-known fact. 
In total, Valentina Tereshkova flew almost 2 million kilometers. The launch of Vostok-6 took place on the morning of June 16, 1963, and Valentina Tereshkova landed on the morning of June 19. In total, the flight lasted two days, 22 hours and 41 minutes. During this time, the astronaut made 48 orbits around the Earth, flying a total of approximately 1.97 million kilometers. 
According to Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor V.I. Yazdovsky, who was responsible for the medical support of the Soviet space program at that time, women tolerate the extreme stress of space flight worse on the 14th-18th day of the monthly cycle. Since the launch of the launch vehicle that put Tereshkova into orbit was delayed for a day, and also, obviously, due to the strong psycho-emotional load when putting the ship into orbit, the flight mode prescribed by the doctors could not be maintained. Yazdovsky also noted that “Tereshkova, according to telemetry and television monitoring, endured the flight mostly satisfactorily. Negotiations with ground communication stations were sluggish. She sharply limited her movements. She sat almost motionless. She clearly showed changes in her health of a vegetative nature.” Despite nausea and physical discomfort, Tereshkova survived 48 revolutions around the Earth and spent almost three days in space, where she kept a logbook and took photographs of the horizon, which were later used to detect aerosol layers in the atmosphere. The Vostok-6 descent module landed safely in the Baevsky district of the Altai Territory. Immediately after landing, despite medical instructions, Tereshkova ate local food after three days of fasting. 
The flight was not easy, the landing was scary. At that time, it was not customary to talk about difficulties. Therefore, Valentina Tereshkova did not report that the flight was difficult. It was very difficult to stay for three days in a heavy space suit that restricted movement. But she persevered: she did not ask for a premature termination of the flight. Valentina was especially scared during landing. There was a lake below her; she could not control a large heavy parachute that opened at an altitude of 4 km. And although astronauts were taught to splash down, Valentina was not sure that she would have enough strength to stay on the water after an exhausting flight. But in the end, Valentina Tereshkova was lucky: she flew over the lake. 
The newsreel footage was staged. The newsreel footage depicting the landing of the descent module was staged. They were filmed the day after Tereshkova actually returned to Earth. When the girl returned, she was in very bad condition and was rushed to the hospital. But she soon came to her senses and felt fine the next day. 
Valentina “Chaika” Tereshkova is not only the first female cosmonaut in history. She is also the only woman on our planet to have completed a solo space flight. All other female cosmonauts and astronauts flew into space only as part of crews. Valentina Tereshkova's flight became a significant page in the history of space exploration. 
Valentina Tereshkova, 1969
From April 30, 1969 to April 28, 1997 - instructor-cosmonaut of the cosmonaut detachment of the 1st department of the 1st directorate of the group of orbital ships and stations, instructor-cosmonaut-tester of the group of orbital manned complexes for general and special purposes, 1st group of the cosmonaut detachment. Tereshkova remained in the detachment, and in 1982 she could even be appointed commander of the female crew of the Soyuz spacecraft. On April 30, 1997, Tereshkova was the last of the female cohort of 1962 to leave the detachment due to reaching the age limit. Since 1997, senior researcher at the Cosmonaut Training Center. 
After completing the space flight, Tereshkova entered the Air Force Engineering Academy named after. N. E. Zhukovsky and, having graduated with honors, later became a candidate of technical sciences, professor, and author of more than 50 scientific papers. 
After her dream of space flight came true, Valentina never stopped dreaming. It would seem that what else could one dream about after the completion of such a flight and universal glory. But Tereshkova did not stop thinking about the possibility of new flights. She really wanted to go on a flight to Mars, and was even ready to fly there without the possibility of returning back. And after Tereshkova saw all the continents of the Earth from space, she began to dream of visiting Australia. After many years, she managed to fulfill her dream. 
Personal life of a female astronaut:
She was married to Andriyan Nikolaev, the wedding took place in a government mansion on the Lenin Hills on November 3, 1963, among the guests was N. S. Khrushchev. After the marriage and until the divorce, Tereshkova bore the double surname Nikolaeva-Tereshkova. This marriage was officially dissolved in 1982, after the daughter Elena came of age. Tereshkova once said about the reasons for her divorce from cosmonaut 3: “At work there is gold, at home there is a despot.”
Second husband - Major General of the Medical Service, Director of the Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics (CITO) Yuli Shaposhnikov (1931-1999). On June 8, 1964, daughter Elena Andriyanovna was born - the world's first child, both whose father and mother were cosmonauts. First husband Elena was a pilot Igor Alekseevich Mayorov, her second husband was a pilot Andrei Yuryevich Rodionov.
Since 2013, Elena Andriyanovna Tereshkova has been an orthopedic surgeon, working at CITO.
V.V. Tereshkova Major General (1995) retired (1997), the first woman in Russia with the rank of Major General 
