Valentina Vladimirovna
Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, former Soviet cosmonaut,
and member of the State Duma. She achieved a historic feat by becoming the
first woman in space, flying a solo mission aboard Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. During
the flight, she orbited the Earth 48 times and spent almost three days in
space. At just 26 years old, she became the youngest woman to fly in space and
in Earth orbit, remains the only woman to have flown a solo space mission, and
is the last surviving cosmonaut of the Vostok programme.
