What do you remember about Valentina Tereshkova?

Yesterday I wrote about the tme capsule inside the former Christian Science church building that no houses a local branch of the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum. In passing I mentioned that Florence Nightingale was featured in several display cases.

A display on the West side of the room featured another amazing woman. Does the name Valentina Tereshkova ring a bell? For most of us it doesn't, but it should. Ms. Tereshkova was the first woman cosmonaut to go into space and the only woman to have ever flown a solo mission in outer space. Flying alone on the Vostok 6 mission on June 16, 1963, she orbited the Earth 48 times and spent nearly three days in space. At 26 years old during her flight, she’s still the youngest woman ever to go to space, both by reaching 100 kilometers above Earth and by orbiting the planet.

One amazing part of this story is that the rocket men who designed these early rockets did not yet design a safe way to return to earth. Americans are familiar with the early tin can models with heat shields and parachutes. The Soviet approach in the return to earth was for the astronaut to exit the rocket four miles above the ground and skydive to  earth, which is was Valentina Tereshkova did.

Respected & decorated: Tereshkova in 1969.

Before being selected for this space adventure, Tereshkova was a textile worker who also did amateur competitive skydiving. In short, by following her passion for parachute jumping, she ended up making history as a cosmonaut. She retired from the Air Force in 1997 as a Major General and decorated national hero. After retiring she pursued a career in politics until 2022.

Fun Fact
For her orbital flight she was outfitted with all necessities you'd expect--clothing, food, water, toothpaste, but NO toothbrush!

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To learn more about Major General Tereshkova's career and achievements, visit
Valentina Tereshkova on Wikipedia

Note to Valentina: Congratulations on your courage and example for women.