Russian Women in Space
Women cosmonauts who made history.
June 16, 1963, Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, onboard the Vostok 6, became the first woman in space. Image credit: NASA
Another First for the U.S.S.R.
The Soviet Union beat the United States with many “firsts” into space: Sputnik, the first satellite; Laika, the first dog; Luna 2, the first object to land on the surface of the Moon; and the ultimate achievement, the first man in space when Cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin completed his successful mission on April 12, 1961. Not stopping there, the Soviet Union continued its dominance of space exploration with the June 16, 1963, launch of the Vostok 6 spacecraft carrying Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova onboard – the first woman in space.