Valentina Tereshkova - Wonderful Woman No. 22

Valentina Tereshkova - Born 1937
Russian Astronaut (Cosmonaut)

When I was young, I used to sit on my window ledge at night looking out into the black of the night. Sometimes, I would feel frightened and overwhelmed by the vastness of what was out there, the unending space and that myself and, indeed, the Earth we live on are just tiny, insignificant pieces of the universe, a grain of sand on an enormous beach.

On June 16th 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to be launched into space. She was not a trained Cosmonaut, Valentina became an honorary member of the USSR's Air Force on the condition that she join the Comosnaut programme. This was because the Russians had decided to test the effects space travel would have on the female body.

Valentina was selected for the role as she was an accomplished parachutist and skydiver. She was twenty-six years old at the time, fit, healthy and mentally determined.

She spent almost three days in space and orbited the Earth forty-eight times. During this time, Valentina kept a detailed log and took photographs, later these were used in identifying aerosol layers within our atmosphere.

Once you've been in space, you appreciate how small and fragile the Earth is.
Valentina Tereshkova

Valentina was a woman who did something I can only dream of. A true pioneer, an inspiration and a wonderful woman who boldly went where no woman had gone before.