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The First Woman in Space, Russia's Valentina Tereshkova Turns 80

Mar 06, 2017 - 01:00 pm

Valentina Tereshkova in uniform. She was a major in the Soviet Air Force. Alexander Mokletsov / RIA Novosti

Many references state that this photograph is of cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (R) and Tatiana Kuznetsova during Vostok landing tests. Both were selected for the Soviet space program in 1962, but only Tereshkova was assigned to a spaceflight. However, in a 2005 interview, Tereshkova disputed this description. Her recollection is that the other person in the picture was a parachutist medic and not Kuznetsova. NASA

Valentina Tereshkova preparing for her first spaceflight on June 16, 1963. ESA

Soviet cosmonauts Valery Bykovsky (L) and Valentina Tereshkova greeting the crowds the day after Tereshkova returned from her space flight on June 20, 1963. Alexander Mokletsov / RIA Novosti

Soviet cosmonauts, Heroes of the Soviet Union Pavel, Popovich (L), Yuri Gagarin (C), and Valentina Tereshkova in a TV studio, Jan. 1, 1964. Yakov Khalip / RIA Novosti

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (R) with cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (2nd R), Pavel Popovich (3rd R) and Yuri Gagarin at the Lenin Mausoleum during a demonstration dedicated to the successful space flights of the Vostok-5 and Vostok-6 spacecraft. RIA Novosti

Wedding ceremony of Valentina Tereshkova and Andriyan Nikolayev, Nov. 3, 1963. Alexander Mokletsov / RIA Novosti

Reception for Andriyan Nikolayev and Valentina Tereshkova in Nagoya, Japan. Nov. 1, 1965. RIA Novosti

Valentina Tereshkova at home, Oct. 1, 1966. RIA Novosti

Valentina Tereshkova meeting with Angela Davis, the leader of the American Communist Party at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Aug. 11, 1972. RIA Novosti

Valentina Tereshkova looks at the Apollo Command Module during a tour of the Johnson Space Center in 1977. NASA

Valentina Tereshkova and former cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, the first human to walk in space, greet one another during ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversary of the launch of Yuri Gagarin at the Cosmonautics Museum in Moscow, Apr. 11, 2011. NASA

Flight Engineer Yelena Serova, Russia's latest woman in space, enjoys the spotlight with Valentina Tereshkova before her flight to the International Space Station, Sept. 12, 2014. Stephanie Stoll / NASA

The first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova turns 80, on March 6, 2017.

Tereshkova's three-day flight into space, launched June 16, 1963, helped solidify the prestige of the Soviet space program after Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space two years earlier.

Here are some of the seminal moments of her life.

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