How Valentina Tereshkova's 1963 Vostok-6 Flight Worked (Infographic) How Valentina Tereshkova's 1963 Vostok-6 Flight Worked (Infographic) By Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist | June 14, 2013 09:35am ET MORE Tereshkova became the first woman to fly in space on June 16, 1963. Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist On June 16, 1963, at the age of 26, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to fly in space. Before becoming a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile factory worker and avid skydiver. Her three-day mission was the 12th human spaceflight in history, following several Russian Vostok and American Mercury flights. Strapped to her ejection seat, Tereshkova rode inside the 7.5-foot-wide (2.3 meters) pressurized cabin of Vostok-6. She was carried into orbit by an R-7 booster rocket.

R-7, the world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile, was originally developed in the 1950s to carry nuclear bombs halfway around the world. A modified version launched Sputnik-1 into orbit in 1957. Tereshkova’s SK-2 space suit was similar to the SK-1 worn by Yuri Gagarin , but modified for a female. Unlike suits for space walking, the SK suits were only meant to be pressurized in an emergency, when cabin pressure was lost. Vostoks 5 and 6 were originally intended to be a dual mission piloted by women. Ultimately, the mission was carried out by a man and a woman. The two spacecraft approached to 3 miles (5 kilometers) of each other but drifted apart as they orbited. After 48 orbits, Tereshkova used manual controls to hold Vostok steady while firing the rocket engine to drop out of orbit. After re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere, she ejected from the falling spacecraft and descended using her own parachute.

First woman in space - Jun 16, 1963 - HISTORY.com First woman in space Publisher A+E Networks On June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space. After 48 orbits and 71 hours, she returned to earth, having spent more time in space than all U.S. astronauts combined to that date. Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born to a peasant family in Maslennikovo, Russia, in 1937. She began work at a textile factory when she was 18, and at age 22 she made her first parachute jump under the auspices of a local aviation club. Her enthusiasm for skydiving brought her to the attention of the Soviet space program, which sought to put a woman in space in the early 1960s as a means of achieving another “space first” before the United States.

As an accomplished parachutist, Tereshkova was well equipped to handle one of the most challenging procedures of a Vostok space flight: the mandatory ejection from the capsule at about 20,000 feet during reentry. In February 1962, she was selected along with three other woman parachutists and a female pilot to begin intensive training to become a cosmonaut. In 1963, Tereshkova was chosen to take part in the second dual flight in the Vostok program, involving spacecrafts Vostok 5 and Vostok 6. On June 14, 1963, Vostok 5 was launched into space with cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky aboard. With Bykovsky still orbiting the earth, Tereshkova was launched into space on June 16 aboard Vostok 6. The two spacecrafts had different orbits but at one point came within three miles of each other, allowing the two cosmonauts to exchange brief communications. Tereshkova’s spacecraft was guided by an automatic control system, and she never took manual control.

On June 19, after just under three days in space, Vostok 6 reentered the atmosphere, and Tereshkova successfully parachuted to earth after ejecting at 20,000 feet. Bykovsky and Vostok 5 landed safely a few hours later. After her historic space flight, Valentina Tereshkova received the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards. In November 1963, she married fellow cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev, reportedly under pressure from Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who saw a propaganda advantage in the pairing of the two single cosmonauts. The couple made several goodwill trips abroad, had a daughter, and later separated. In 1966, Tereshkova became a member of the Supreme Soviet, the USSR’s national parliament, and she served as the Soviet representative to numerous international women’s organizations and events. She never entered space again, and hers was the last space flight by a female cosmonaut until the 1980s.

The United States screened a group of female pilots in 1959 and 1960 for possible astronaut training but later decided to restrict astronaut qualification to men. The first American woman in space was astronaut and physicist Sally Ride, who served as mission specialist on a flight of the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. Related Videos Missions of Vostok-5 and Vostok-6 spacecraft ADVERTISE Searching for details: The author of this page will appreciate comments, corrections and imagery related to the subject. Please contact Anatoly Zak . Roots of the "woman in space" project In June 1963, the USSR stunned the world with another space sensation -- 26-year-old Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to orbit the Earth. Ironically, Tereshkova's stellar achievement might have been the result of a misunderstanding! The Soviet decision to put a woman in space was likely triggered by a widely publicized but unofficial push to train American female astronauts.

Women's space team starts training In March 1962, five young women -- Irina Solovieva, Valentina Tereshkova, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Zhanna Yerkina and Valentina Ponomareva -- were selected for an elite and top-secret training to become cosmonauts. When four of them "graduated" in November, key project officials had already singled out Tereshkova as the best candidate to become the first woman in space. Tereshkova prepares to fly: A race behind the scene After months of fierce debates, Soviet planners agreed to prepare a dual manned mission: Vostok-5 would push the limits of the existing spacecraft attempting a record-breaking eight-day flight, while Vostok-6 would carry the first woman into space. Both spacecraft were to be launched from the same pad within 48 hours from each other. Vostok-5 delays: Burned by the Sun Originally scheduled for launch as early as June 3, 1963, the upcoming mission of Vostok-5 was plagued by problems.

On June 10, when the rocket with the spacecraft had been already on the pad, a stark warning from astronomers about an imminent solar storm carrying dangerous radiation to the Earth's vicinity grounded the mission for several days. Vostok-5 launch: On the knife's edge On June 14, 1963, after a nerve-wracking string of last-minute technical glitches, Vostok-5 finally lifted off at the very end of its launch window. As the Vostok entered orbit, the third stage of its rocket cut off and separated with a bang. Seconds after the world around him suddenly became weightless, Bykovsky watched snowflakes flying behind the window. Vostok-5 in orbit: Almost flawless After its troubled launch, Vostok-5's orbital flight felt like a relief to ground controllers. Bykovsky not only stayed free of the ugly effects of weightlessness, but seemingly enjoyed it. However increased solar radiation caused the Earth atmosphere to "bulge" and increase friction with the spacecraft, threatening an unplanned reentry. An early return seemed to be the only option to avoid it.

Mission of Vostok-6: I am "Seagull" Disproving once again sailors' old myth about women onboard bringing bad luck, Tereshkova's launch was a "walk in the park" comparing to Bykovsky's trouble-plagued countdown. On June 16, Vostok-6 successfully entered orbit and the name of Valentina Tereshkova, along with her call sign "Seagull," was trumpeted around the world. Vostok-6 landing: Real and imaginary ills With her place in history guaranteed, Tereshkova had an opportunity to land after just one day in orbit. Yet, mission control decided to "satisfy her wish" to complete a three-day mission. Until this day, her contemporaries disagree on her performance during the flight, but on June 19, 1963, Tereshkova successfully returned to Earth with just a scratch on her nose.

Vostok-5 landing: Without a hitch Soon after Tereshkova's touchdown, Gagarin called Bykovsky still orbiting the Earth saying, "Chaika ("Seagull") landed, it is now your turn." Keeping his cool all the way though, Bykovsky landed successfully after a record-breaking 119-hour and 6-minute mission, even after his flight was cut short. He holds the record for a longest flight by a single pilot until this day. USSR - Vostok 1 Vostok - the World's First Spaceship In all, six piloted missions were orbited, between 1961 and 1963, under the 'Vostok' programme name. The Vostok spacecraft shares its roots with Sergei Korolyov's 'Zenit' recoverable satellite. Several versions of Zenit have existed over the years and it still flies orbital missions as the re-entry vehicle of the 'Cometa' recoverable satellite, and under the 'Photon' and 'Bion' labels. The Vostok spacecraft development programme included several orbital flights before Gagarin went into orbit, including a full dress rehearsal with dummy cosmonaut.

Following Laika (Sputnik 2) into space were several dogs as occupants of the Vostok development missions - the Korabl Sputniks or 'Spaceship Satellites'. Unlike with Laika, the object was to return the dogs from their missions, though this aim was not always achieved. A short chronology of the Vostok and early Zenit programmes follows. A more complete history can be found in the "Zarya Diaries" - available from the right hand menu.

Date Event 1958 Jan 1 Work begins in the Soviet Union on designing the vehicle which will become the piloted Vostok (3KA) and Voskhod (3KV & 3KD) spacecraft, and the recoverable Zenit (2K) photo-reconnaissance satellite 1958 Nov 1 The Soviet government approves development of the Vostok and Zenit spacecraft 1960 Jan 11 USSR Government establishes a Cosmonaut Training Centre 1960 Mar 1 The Soviet Union first group of 20 space flight trainees reports to the Cosmonaut Training Centre 1960 May 15 00:00 Korabl Sputnik 1 (1KP-1), English - "Spaceship-Satellite", a Vostok/Zenit prototype, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into approx 320 x 360 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination - the purpose of the flight is to verify spacecraft systems and onboard there is mass to simulate the presence of a cosmonaut, on this mission, there is no heat shield and the cabin is not intended to

 be recovered 1960 May 18 23:52 Having aligned itself for retrofire, Korabl Sputnik 1 ignites its retro-rocket but an error means that it is pointing 180 degrees away from the correct direction and the spacecraft orbit is boosted to an orbit of 278 x 689 kilometres - its cabin section then separates from the instrument unit and remains in orbit for a further five years 1960 Jul 28 07:12 Korabl Sputnik (1K-1) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket aimed towards a low orbit around the Earth at 65 degrees inclination, it carries the dogs Chaika and Lisichka - the rocket explodes shortly after lift-off and the craft is destroyed 1960 Aug 19 08:44 Korabl Sputnik 2 (1K-2) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 297 x 324 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination - it's purpose is continued testing of Vostok's systems, it carries two dogs: Strel

ka and Belka, and other biological specimens including plants, rats and mice 1960 Aug 20 Approx time - Korabl Sputnik 2 retro-rocket fires 1960 Aug 20 10:50 Approx time - Korabl Sputnik 2 ejector mechanism operates as a test for the Vostok ejector seat, and the container carrying Strelka and Belka continues descent under a parachute 1960 Aug 20 11:02 Korabl Sputnik 2 experiments container lands - the spacecraft touches down nearby at about the same time 1960 Dec 1 07:26 Korabl Sputnik 3 (1K-3) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 166 x 232 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination - it carries two dogs: Pchelka and Mushka and other biological specimens including animals, plants and insects, and continues testing of Vostok's systems 1960 Dec 2 09:12 Korabl Sputnik 3 fires its retro-rocket to initiate re-entry but

 it fails to shut down and continues to fire until all fuel is used up - the re-entry angle is too steep and the spacecraft is destroyed by frictional heating 1960 Dec 22 07:45 Korabl Sputnik (1K-4), carrying two dogs - Damka and Krasavka, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket aimed towards a low orbit around the Earth at 65 degrees inclination - the spacecraft separates from the rocket while the third stage is still firing 1960 Dec 22 07:50 Estimated time - having survived separation from its launcher, Korabl Sputnik (1K-4) lands by parachute - its cargo is recovered intact 1961 Mar 9 06:28 Korabl Sputnik 4 (3KA-1) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 173 x 239 kilometre orbit at 64.9 degrees inclination - in order to continue tests of the Vostok systems, it carries a dummy cosmonaut, a dog: Chernushka, and other biological specimens 1961

 Mar 9 Approx time - Korabl Sputnik 4 retro-rocket fires 1961 Mar 9 07:58 Approx time - Korabl Sputnik 4 ejector seat operates and the dummy cosmonaut continues a separate descent under a parachute 1961 Mar 9 08:09 Korabl Sputnik 4 dummy cosmonaut lands - the spacecraft, with Chernushka inside, touches down nearby at about the same time 1961 Mar 25 05:54 Korabl Sputnik 5 (3KA-2) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 164 x 230 kilometre orbit at 64.9 degrees inclination - it carries a dummy cosmonaut, a dog: Zvezdochka and other biological specimens and is the final test flight prior to the launch of Vostok 1961 Mar 25 Approx time - Korabl Sputnik 5 retro-rocket fires 1961 Mar 25 07:29 Approx time - Korabl Sputnik 5 ejector seat operates and the dummy cosmon

aut continues a separate descent under a parachute 1961 Mar 25 07:40 Korabl Sputnik 5 dummy cosmonaut lands - the spacecraft, with Zvezdochka inside, touches down nearby at about the same time 1961 Apr 12 06:07 World first piloted spaceship, Vostok (3KA-3), launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 169 x 315 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin aboard 1961 Apr 12 Vostok is aligned for retro-fire 1961 Apr 12 1961 Apr 12 07:35 Vostok re-enters the atmosphere - Gagarin ride is rough as the instrument unit and the cabin remain joined by a cable until re-entry heating burns it through 1961 Apr 12 Vostok ejector seat operates and Gagarin continues descent under a parachute 1961 Apr 12 08:05 Gagarin lands - 26 kilometres south-west of

 Engels, Saratov Region - Vostok touches down nearby at about the same time 1961 Aug 6 06:00 Vostok 2 (3KA-4) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 166 x 232 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination with cosmonaut Gherman Titov aboard 1961 Aug 6 Titov begins rest period aboard Vostok 2 1961 Aug 6 23:37 Aboard Vostok 2, Titov is awakened at the end of his sleep period - 37 minutes later than planned 1961 Aug 7 Aboard Vostok 2, Titov eats breakfast 1961 Aug 7 Approx time - Vostok 2 retro-rocket fires 1961 Aug 7 Vostok 2 ejector seat operates and Titov continues descent under a parachute 1961 Aug 7 07:18 Titov lands 740 kilometres south-east of Moscow near Krasny Sut, Saratov region - Vostok 

2 touches down nearby at about the same time 1962 Mar 14 A group of five women joins the original cosmonaut detachment at the Soviet Union Cosmonaut Training Centre 1962 Aug 11 08:30 Vostok 3 (3KA-5) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 166 x 218 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination with cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev aboard 1962 Aug 12 08:02 Vostok 4 (3KA-6) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 165 x 222 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination with cosmonaut Pavel Popovich aboard - it orbit is close to that of Vostok 3 1962 Aug 12 08:12 Approx time - Vostok 4 passes 6.5 kilometres from Vostok 3 - there is radio and contact between the two cosmonauts and the spacecraft are visible to each other - the two spacecraft then drift slowly apart

 1962 Aug 15 Approx time - Vostok 3 retro-rocket fires 1962 Aug 15 Approx time - Vostok 4 retro-rocket fires 1962 Aug 15 Vostok 3 ejector seat operates and Nikolayev continues descent under a parachute 1962 Aug 15 Vostok 4 ejector seat operates and Popovich continues descent under a parachute 1962 Aug 15 06:51 Nikolayev lands and Vostok 3 touches down nearby at about the same time - location: 48.03 degrees north, 75.75 degrees east, near Karkaralinsk in the Karaganda region 1962 Aug 15 06:59 Popovich lands, and Vostok 4 touches down nearby at about the same time - the mission has been shortened by one day because of a misunderstanding between the cosmonaut and mission control about his state of health - location: 48.15 degrees north 71.85 degrees east, near Atasu in the Karaganda region 1963 Jun 

14 11:58 Vostok 5 (3KA-7) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 162 x 209 kilometre orbit at 65.0 degrees inclination with cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky aboard 1963 Jun 16 09:29 Vostok 6 (3KA-8) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by Vostok rocket into 168 x 218 kilometre orbit at 65.1 degrees inclination with female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova aboard 1963 Jun 16 09:40 Approx time - Vostok 6 passes 5 kilometres from Vostok 5 but their orbits are angled with respect to each other so the two spacecraft move rapidly apart - there is radio contact between the two cosmonauts 1963 Jun 19 Approx time - Vostok 6 retro-rocket fires 1963 Jun 19 Vostok 6 ejector seat operates and Tereshkova continues descent under a parachute 1963 Jun 1

9 08:20 Tereshkova lands, and Vostok 6 touches down nearby at about the same time - location 53.27 degrees north, 80.45 degrees east, 620 kilometres north-east of Karaganda 1963 Jun 19 Approx time - Vostok 5 retro-rocket fires 1963 Jun 19 10:36 Approx time - Vostok 5 re-enters the atmosphere - Bykovsky ride is rough as the instrument unit and the cabin remain joined by a cable until re-entry heating burns it through - a similar problem to that encountered by Gagarin 1963 Jun 19 Vostok 5 ejector seat operates and Bykovsky continues descent under a parachute 1963 Jun 19 11:05 Bykovsky lands, and Vostok 5 touches down nearby at about the same time - location: 53.40 degrees north, 67.62 degrees east, 540 kilometres north-west of Karaganda 1964 Mar 1 Soviet government cancels remainder of the Vostok

 programme so that work can be concentrated on developing the Voskhod spacecraft 1965 Oct 15 12:40 Approx time - the cabin of Korabl Sputnik 1 (launched 1960) re-enters the Earth atmosphere and is destroyed by frictional heating 1966 Jan 14 Sergei Korolyov dies while undergoing surgery, he is aged 59 - his funeral is held in Moscow and his ashes are interred in the wall of the Kremlin First Lady of Space: Tereshkova’s flight TIMELINE — RT News The selection of candidates for the mission began in early 1962.

The first female cosmonaut had to meet certain criteria: a parachute jumper, younger than 30, less than 170 cm (5’ 7”) tall, and less than 70kg (154lbs). Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, born on March 6, 1937, in the Soviet village of Maslennikovo, Yaroslavl Region Parents had migrated from Belarus.

Father was a tractor-driver, mother worked at a textile plant Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16,1963 Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded on June 22, 1963 First woman in the Russian Army to get a rank of Major-General, 1995 (in retirement since April 1997) State Duma deputy, member of the majority United Russia party Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Foreign Affairs Got married to the 3rd Soviet cosmonaut Andrian Nikolaev in November 1963 On June 8, 1964, she gave birth to their daughter Elena - the first child in the world whose parents were both cosmonauts Divorced since 1982 Finally, out of several hundred candidates, five were selected, including 26-year-old Valentina Tereshkova – a regional champion in skydiving who had 90 jumps under her belt.

On March 12, 1962, Tereshkova became a member of the cosmonaut corps and, along with the other four candidates, began months of tough training which included days spent in the complete silence of a soundproof chamber, zero-gravity tests and exhausting exercises in a heat chamber. Tereshkova was last on the list of the candidates, but in the 1960s, political factors mattered a lot, and it was the “proletarian” background, which scored her points. On June 16, 1963, Tereshkova became the first woman in space. She spent almost three days (70 hours 50 minutes) on the Vostok-6 spacecraft, which was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, in present-day Kazakhstan. She orbited the earth 49 times. Another Soviet spacecraft, Vostok-5 piloted by Valery Bykovsky, was in space at the same time.

RT reconstructed the timeline of Tereshkova’s historic flight, based on open sources, Tereshkova’s after-mission report and interviews, and the published diaries of Nikolay Kamanin, assistant commander-in-chief of the Air Force for space missions from 1960 to 1971, who supervised cosmonauts' training. June 19, 1963 11:20 MSK: The Vostok-6 space capsule safely landed near Baevo, in Altai, 620 km north-east of Karaganda. “Both space craft landed 2 degrees north of the estimated landing point,” Kamanin recalled. “Communication and search teams made a lot of mistakes. We received reports about the cosmonauts’ state of health only several hours after the landing. We heard about Tereshkova through the land communication lines; and the commander of the aviation wing that circled over the landing site reported on Bykovsky – he saw the space craft, a crowd of people, some vehicles and the cosmonaut. After receiving verified reports on the cosmonauts’ health condition, Korolyov called Moscow and reported the safe landing.

By night, it was clear that the second group space flight of the Soviet cosmonauts – including the first woman in space – was successfully completed.” Tereshkova’s report: “After deployment of the parachute, I saw the spacecraft underneath. The spacecraft and the seat landed near me. We have to come up with a way to control the parachute canopy, because I landed on my back. Some people ran up to me and tried to help. The spacecraft was 400 meters away. A jet came in an hour, two parachutists descended. In three hours, I was on the phone with Khrushchev, reporting the successful completion of the flight.” According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, Tereshkova’s landing was quite harsh. The space capsule was shaped like a ball, so it didn’t have the lift-to-drag ratio. Her descent had a ballistic trajectory; therefore the first female cosmonauts had to deal with a wide landing radius. Also they were ejected at 7 km, but the space capsule parachute deployed only at 4 km. "When I was ejected and saw what was underneath, I got terrified, because there was a lake down there,” Valentina Tereshkova said later.

“My first thought was – darn, they send one woman and now this woman will end up in the water!” Tereshkova also remembers that it was very windy. “I had to remove the locks and unstrap the parachute. But it was impossible to control it, the canopy was huge, and the harness lines – very long. I was carried by the wind. So I had to ‘stand on my head’ for a little bit, finally I unstrapped the parachute, but ended up with a big bruise on my nose,” she recalled. “Doctors had to conceal this bruise, because the beautiful lady wouldn’t look good in front of all the bosses with a shiner,” Tereshkova explained. Some sources also claim that Tereshkova was almost unconscious when she landed. The woman was immediately transported to a hospital in Moscow. In the evening, the doctors reported that she was out of the woods health wise. So the next day they reenacted the landing and filmed it. They put Tereshkova in the capsule and actors played the people running up to it. One of the actors opened the capsule, and Tereshkova was sitting there, smiling. This footage was then shown all over the world.

09:39 MSK:A command to activate the automatic landing cycle was sent to Vostok-6 spacecraft. ‘Seagull’ performed manual orientation for landing and was maintaining the spacecraft in this position for 15 minutes. “Tereshkova was extremely pleased and reported she had gotten through with her attitude control task,” Kamanin recalled. Tereshkova’s report: “I have carried out all preparations for the landing and reported readiness. Solar orientation control system went on when the spacecraft was still in the Earth’s shadow. I could hardly hear the retro pack went on. I reported on having performed the commands via radiograms. The Earth was behind my back. The modules detached abruptly. First the spacecraft was moving steadily, but then it started swaying. When the surface of the ship was burning, I could see flames flying past the viewing port. After retraction, the cabin was filled with smoke and wads. The chair quickly detaches and exits the spacecraft in a very slow movement.” June 18, 1963 10:00 MSK: Baikonur has started preparing all the data for the landings of both Vostoks.

It was decided that Seagull will land on the 49th pass through the orbit, and Hawk – on the 82nd. Tereshkova’s report: “I didn’t feel the spacesuit on me for the first 24 hours. On the second day I got nagging pain in my right shank, and on the third – it started troubling me. Full-pressure helmet was uncomfortable and tight on my shoulder, and the intercom headset was tight on my left ear... I could feel pain and itching on my head underneath the device. Air conditioning system worked well throughout the flight. At the takeoff the temperature inside the cabin was 30 degrees, at the end of the first 24 hours – 23 degrees. Then it fell to 12 degrees and maintained this temperature.” Even though by the third day in space, Tereshkova was exhausted, she would not admit that. The mission control center tried to reach her for the last communication session before landing, but she would not receive calls. When the ground team turned the camera on, they found her asleep and had to wake her up to discuss upcoming landing and manual orientation.

Tereshkova had tried orienting the spacecraft manually once, but then honestly admitted she had failed to do that. She was trying to turn Vostok-6 towards the Earth, but each time it would face the opposite direction. It aroused great concerns, as in case automatic orientation breaks down, returning the spaceship to the Earth would become impossible. Tereshkova had been keeping silent about that emergency situation on board for many years. Just last week, she finally made public that there was an error in the control program that made the spaceship ascend from orbit instead of descending. She reported it to the MCC. “I entered the data that I got from the Earth into the program,” she told the journalists last week. Later, after the successful landing, Sergey Korolyov came up to her and asked, as Valentina recalls: “My little Chayka, please, don’t tell anybody about that”. And she did not, for decades. Tereshkova’s report: “Sanitary wipes are not wet enough and are tiny. It would be great to have something for teeth cleaning. I witnessed thunderstorms in the sky above South America. At night you can easily distinguish cities. The Earth and the clouds are beautifully lit by the moonlight.

Constellations are difficult to make out.” June 17, 1963 10:07 MSK: Vostok-6 flew from North-West to South-East over the cosmonauts’ house at Baikonur and two communication sessions with Tereshkova were held. The correspondent of the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper told Tereshkova he had just had a phone conversation with her mother, who had said she was proud of her daughter and was looking forward to meeting her on Earth. Valentina responded: “Kisses for my mom, the dearest person to me.” Tereshkova’s report: "Working with the equipment is hard: I couldn’t reach the globe and other devices, so I had to loosen the harness. I was filming cities, clouds and the Moon. Filming and simultaneously putting down what you see is extremely difficult. I haven’t carried out biological tests as I failed to get the samples." The zero gravity did not cause any discomfort for the cosmonaut.

“My hands were floating in the air, so I felt like putting them away under the harness, and during training I felt like leaning against the chair,” Tereshkova said later, in her report. Food in tubes, though, appeared to be quite a challenge. "The bread is stale – I didn’t eat it. I was craving for black bread, potatoes and onions. The water is chilly and pleasant. Juices and beefsteaks were also fine. I vomited once, but that was not because of vestibular disturbance, that was because of the food," Tereshkova wrote. Tereshkova didn’t keep the logbook as her two pencils had broken. On the same day, Vostok-5 pilot Bykovsky said “Connection with Chaika is excellent; she is humming songs to me.” “During the first day we had excellent connection with Hawk, on the second day until the afternoon it was satisfactory, and then we lost it.

But I could hear the ground talk to him, so it was amazing to know Hawk was soaring in space somewhere next to me.” June 16, 1963 22:00 MSK: Tereshkova talked to Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, and reported to him on the mission. Tereshkova’s report: "The Vostok-6 launch was a very smooth one. We had good connection and I could hear all the commands. The gravity load was easy to bear… As the ship went into zero gravity, I had no painful sensations. I established connection with Hawk in the shadow of the Earth. I saw a star that shone three times as bright as Vega and I took it for Vostok-5." On the same day, the cosmonaut noticed a mistake in the automatic navigation software: the spacecraft was moving further and further from the planet, instead of slowly going down towards it. She reported that to the ground. 12:30 MSK: The Vostok-6 ship is successfully launched and orbited. Right before the launch, Tereshkova said her famous since then “Hey, sky!

Take off your hat, I'm coming!” Later, when the cosmonaut was asked about this phrase, she told the journalists “I had never planned to say this. It was rather on the spur of the moment.” 12:15 MSK: The bus brought ‘Seagull’ to the launching site. She reported to the Chairman of the State Commission the “Cosmonaut Tereshkova is ready for the launch.” The lady was presented with a flower bouquet, which she immediately handed over to Korolyov. 11:00 MSK: Tereshkova put on her space suit. The medical check-up was also performed and it went well. Walking up the stairs, to get into the spacecraft was pretty difficult in a heavy spacesuit. That is not to mention the jitters: Tereshkova’s pulse was at 140 beats per minute as she was entering the ship. Once on board, it took her some ten to fifteen minutes to establish radio connection with the ground and then she reported on the equipment check-up.

On the day of the flight, Tereshkova told her family that she was leaving to take part in a parachuting contest – up until the successful launch the entire mission was classified. Her mother only learnt about her heroic daughter on the radio. June 15, 1963 19:00 MSK: The pre-launch team and space industry officials meet with the Vostok-6 crew. Everyone brought Tereshkova flowers and wished her a safe flight. After the meeting, the girls changed to casual clothes and together with Sergey Korolyov went on board Vostok-6. At night Tereshkova and Solovyova went to the cosmonauts’ house and started to prepare for the launch. 17:00 MSK: Tereshkova meets the pre-launch team. Moscow decides to keep it secret that Tereshkova is an army officer in the first media report about her mission and it was decided that she must be wearing civilian clothes. In the morning Vostok-6 was placed on the launch pad at Baikonur. The launch of the craft is scheduled for June 16, 12:30 Moscow time.

June 14, 1963 17:00 MSK: Vostok-5 was launched, piloted by Valery Bykovsky, code name Yastreb (Hawk). The flight would continue for about five days, with the cosmonaut landing successfully on June 19, after making 82 orbit passes. He would set a record of space flight duration. During the flight, the pilot would manage various systems of the spacecraft, establish radio connection with the Earth and between the ships and, also, conduct scientific research, mainly focused on how a human body changes in space. June 10, 1963 22:30 MSK: The launch of Vostok-5 got cancelled due to a series of strong solar flares. It means that radiation in space may rise to a dangerous level for the pilot. It’s the first time a launch is canceled. June 9, 1963 09:00 MSK: Vostok-5 ship was prepared for the launch.

On the very same day, the cosmonauts and the pre-launch team took a motorboat trip along the Syr Darya River and cooked fish soup together. June 8, 1963 17:00 MSK: The State Space Commission meeting. The chairman of the commission suddenly asked a question: ‘Should we mention that Tereshkova is an officer when we first announce her flight?” The majority supported introducing her as the Air Force Officer. It was decided to launch Vostok-6 with a female cosmonaut two days after the launch of Vostok-5 piloted by a male cosmonaut. Under the plan, the man was to spend two days in space alone; then both craft would stay together for three days and land at the same time. The same day, Tereshkova boarded her Vostok-6 and examined the craft and its equipment together with the lead engineer. “Tereshkova makes a very good impression on everyone. She treats people equally; she is full of tact and dignity,” Nikolay Kamanin, the man in charge of cosmonauts training, recalled in his diaries.

June 5, 1963 Kamanin held a training session with all cosmonauts, doctors and other specialists to ensure a common understanding of 37 instructions that everyone – both on Earth and in orbit – were obliged to know. The teams also agreed to introduce code words that could be used in open radio talks during the flights. For instance, when a cosmonaut reports that “I am feeling fine, the spacecraft’s equipment is working fine” it means a space mission should continue as normal as there are no concerns about health or equipment. When they say “well” instead of “fine” it would mean that a cosmonaut is not really sure they would be able to complete their mission. The word “satisfactory” in a report would mean that the flight should be terminated. June 4, 1963 The State Space Commission held a meeting on launching the Vostoks spacecraft – their readiness to go into orbit and flight missions. At the gathering, Jr. Lt. Tereshkova was approved to pilot Vostok-6, and Major Bykovsky – Vostok-5.

June 3, 1963 09:00 AM: Tereshkova, Solovyova and Ponomaryova start trying on their spacesuits and adjusting harnesses and chairs. Tereshkova’s code name was Chaika, or Seagull in Russian, and there was a picture of the bird embroidered on the shoulder of her heat-protective suit. June 1, 1963 10:00 MSK: Tereshkova, her back-ups Irina Solovyova and Valentina Ponomaryova, and a group of 35 people including the first spaceman Yuri Gagarin arrived at Baikonur space launch facility by Antoshin AN-10 plane. Sergey Korolyov and others met them at the site. Vostok 8K72K Vostok 8K72K Vostok 8K72K - 8K72K COSPAR 1961-Mu 18,065 bytes. 131 x 479 pixels. Family: R-7 . Country: Russia. Status: Hardware. Other Designations: Vostok.

Library of Congress Designation: A-1. Department of Defence Designation: SL-3. ASCC Reporting Name: Sapwood. Article Number: 8K72K. R-7 ICBM with single-engine third stage, uprated from Luna launch vehicle and with forward fairing to accomodate Vostok/Zenit sized spacecraft. 8K72K, used for Vostok manned spacecraft launches and the first Zenit launch attempt. Specifications Launches: 11. Failures: 2. Success Rate: 81.82% pct. First Launch Date: 22 December 1960. Last Launch Date: 16 June 1963. LEO Payload: 4,730 kg. to: 200 km Orbit. at: 65.0 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 397,103 kgf. Total Mass: 281,375 kg. Core Diameter: 3.0 m. Total Length: 30.8 m. Stage Number: 0.

4 x Vostok 8K72K-0 Gross Mass: 43,300 kg. Empty Mass: 3,710 kg. Thrust (vac): 99,000 kgf. Isp: 313 sec. Burn time: 118 sec. Isp(sl): 256 sec. Diameter: 2.7 m. Span: 2.7 m. Length: 19.0 m. Propellants: Lox/Kerosene No Engines: 1. RD-107-8D74-1959 Stage Number: 1. 1 x Vostok 8K72K-1 Gross Mass: 100,400 kg. Empty Mass: 6,800 kg. Thrust (vac): 93,000 kgf. Isp: 315 sec. Burn time: 301 sec. Isp(sl): 248 sec. Diameter: 3.0 m. Span: 3.0 m. Length: 28.0 m.

Propellants: Lox/Kerosene No Engines: 1. RD-108-8D75-1959 Stage Number: 2. 1 x Vostok 8K72K-2 Gross Mass: 7,775 kg. Empty Mass: 1,440 kg. Thrust (vac): 5,560 kgf. Isp: 326 sec. Burn time: 365 sec. Isp(sl): 0 sec. Diameter: 2.6 m. Span: 2.6 m. Length: 2.8 m. Propellants: Lox/Kerosene No Engines: 1. RD-0109 Vostok 8K72K Chronology 1960 Dec 22 - Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. FAILURE: The third stage engine RO-7 failed just after ignifition, 425 seconds in to flight. Korabl-Sputnik Spacecraft: Vostok 1K . Payload: Vostok 1K s/n 4.

Unable to reach orbital velocity, the Vostok prototype separated while the third stage was still firing. While the ejection seat failed to operate, the capsule did make a hard landing in severe winter conditons in Siberia. It was recovered after some time, and the dogs Kometa and Shutka were alive. As a result of this flight the ejection seat was developed with a heat shield designed to protect the pilot in the event of a launch vehicle failure up to shut down of the first stage. 1961 Mar 9 - - 06:29 GMT. LV Configuration: Vostok 8K72K s/n E103-14. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Korabl-Sputnik 4 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 1. Mass: 4,700 kg. Carried dog Chernushka, mannequin Ivan Ivanovich, and other biological specimens. Ivanovich was ejected from the capsule and recovered by parachute, and Chernsuhka was successfully recovered with the capsule on March 9, 1961 8:10 GMT.

Officially: Development of the design of the space ship satellite and of the systems on board, which ensure necessary conditions for man's flight. 1961 Mar 25 - - 06:00 GMT. LV Configuration: Vostok 8K72K s/n E103-15. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Korabl-Sputnik 5 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 2. Mass: 4,695 kg. Carried dog Zvezdochka and mannequin Ivan Ivanovich. Ivanovich was again ejected from the capsule and recovered by parachute, and Zvezdochka was successfully recovered with the capsule on March 25, 1961 7:40 GMT. Officially: Development of the design of the space ship satellite and of the systems on board, designed to ensure man's life functions during flight in outer space and return to Earth. 1961 Apr 12 - - 06:07 GMT. LV Configuration: Vostok 8K72K s/n E103-16.

Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Vostok 1 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 3. Mass: 4,725 kg. Vostok LV Credit: © Mark Wade. 1,240 bytes. 74 x 282 pixels. First manned spaceflight, one orbit of the earth. 11 April 1961 was a 'reserve' day in the launch plan, but it was not needed. All the Chief Designers and Military Space chiefs were at the cosmodrome. Gagarin spent that day in meetings with the prominent personalities. Three press releases were prepared, one for success, two for failures. It was only known ten minutes after burnout, 25 minutes after launch, if a stable orbit had been achieved. The payload included life-support equipment and radio and television to relay information on the condition of the pilot. The flight was automated; Gagarin's controls were locked to prevent him from taking control of the ship. A key was available in a sealed envelope in case it became necessary to take control in an emergency.

After retrofire, the service module remained attached to the Sharik reentry sphere by a wire bundle. The joined craft went through wild gyrations at the beginning of reentry, before the wires burned through. The Sharik, as it was designed to do, then naturally reached aerodynamic equilibrium with the reentry shield positioned correctly. Gagarin ejected after reentry and descended under his own parachute, as was planned. However for many years the Soviet Union denied this, because the flight would not have been recognized for various FAI world records unless the pilot had accompanied his craft to a landing. Recovered April 12, 1961 8:05 GMT. Landed Southwest of Engels Smelovka, Saratov. 1961 Aug 6 - - 05:00 GMT. LV Configuration: Vostok 8K72K s/n E103-17. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Vostok 2 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 4. Mass: 4,730 kg. Credit: © Mark Wade.

47,694 bytes. 421 x 583 pixels. Second manned orbital flight. The Soviet Union successfully launched Vostok II into orbit with Gherman S. Titov as pilot. The spacecraft carried life-support equipment, radio and television for monitoring the condition of the cosmonaut, tape recorder, telemetry system, biological experiments, and automatic and manual control equipment. After 17.5 orbits, the spacecraft reentered on August 7 and landed safely at 7:18 GMT near Krasny Kut, Saratov. Titov made a separate parachute landing in an ejector couch. Flight objectives: Investigation of the effects on the human organism of a prolonged flight in orbit and subsequent return to the surface of the Earth; investigation of man's ability to work during a prolonged period of weightlessness. Titov took manual control of spacecraft but suffered from space sickness. He was equipped with a professional quality Konvas movie camera, with which ten minutes of film of the earth were taken through the porthole. Both television and film images were taken of the interior of the spacecraft. Like Gagarin, Titov experienced problems with separation of the service module after retrofire.

Titov was never to fly again, after being assigned to the Spiral spaceplane, which turned out to be a dead-end project. A biography of him by Martin Caidin ('I Am Eagle') made him somewhat more accessible than Gagarin to the West. 1961 Dec 11 - - 09:39 GMT. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. FAILURE: RO-7 engine of block E upper stage cutoff prematurely. Spacecraft liquidated by self destruct system APO in 407th second of flight. Debris landed 100 km north of Vilyuisk. Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 1 Spacecraft: Zenit-2 . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 1. Mass: 4,610 kg. RKK Energia - Main entrance (security check) of RKK Energia complex. Vostok rocket looms in background. Credit: © Mark Wade. 32,837 bytes. 559 x 255 pixels. First attempted launch of Zenit photo-reconnaisance satellite.

1962 Apr 26 - - 10:02 GMT. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Cosmos 4 Spacecraft: Zenit-2 . Payload: Zenit-2 11F61 s/n 2. Mass: 4,610 kg. Area survey photo reconnaissance satellite. Program partially completed. Failure of primary spacecraft orientation system. 1962 Aug 11 - - 08:30 GMT. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Vostok 3 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 5. Mass: 4,722 kg. Joint flight with Vostok 4. The first such flight, where Vostok capsules were launched one day apart, coming within a few kilometers of each other at the orbital insertion of the second spacecraft. The flight was supposed to occur in March, but following various delays, one of the two Vostok pads was damaged in the explosion of the booster of the third Zenit-2 reconnsat in May. Repairs were not completed until August.

Vostok 3 studied man's ability to function under conditions of weightlessness; conducted scientific observations; furthered improvement of space ship systems, communications, guidance and landing. Immediately at orbital insertion of Vostok 4, the spacecraft were less than 5 km apart. Popovich made radio contact with Cosmonaut Nikolayev. Nikolayev reported shortly thereafter that he had sighted Vostok 4. Since the Vostok had no maneuvering capability, they could not rendezvous or dock, and quickly drifted apart. The launches did allow Korolev to offer something new and different, and gave the launch and ground control crews practice in launching and handling more than one manned spacecraft at a time. The cosmonaut took colour motion pictures of the earth and the cabin interior. Recovered August 15, 1962 6:52 GMT. Landed 48:02N 75:45 E. Credit: © Mark Wade. 12,874 bytes. 549 x 570 pixels. 1962 Aug 12 - - 08:02 GMT. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1.

Vostok 4 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 6. Mass: 4,728 kg. Joint flight with Vostok 3. Acquisition of experimental data on the possibility of establishing a direct link between two space ships; coordination of astronauts' operations; study of the effects of identical spaceflight conditions on the human organism. Popovich had problems with his life support system, resulting in the cabin temperature dropping to 10 degrees Centigrade and the humidity to 35%. The cosmonaut still managed to conduct experiments, including taking colour motion pictures of the terminator between night and day and the cabin interior. Despite the conditions, Popovich felt able to go for the full four days scheduled. But before the mission, Popovich had been briefed to tell ground control that he was 'observing thunderstorms' if he felt the motion sickness that had plagued Titov and needed to return on the next opportunity. Unfortunately he actually did report seeing thunderstorms over the Gulf of Mexico, and ground control took this as a request for an early return. He was ordered down a day early, landing within a few mintutes of Nikolayev.

Only on the ground was it discovered that he was willing to go the full duration, and that ground control had thought he had given the code. Recovered August 15, 1962 6:59 GMT. Landed 48:09 N 71:51 E. 1963 Jun 14 - - 11:59 GMT. Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Vostok 5 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 7. Mass: 4,720 kg. came within about five km of Vostok 5 , the closest distance achieved during the flight, and established radio contact. Both cosmonauts landed safely on June 19. The space spectacular featured television coverage of Bykovsky that was viewed in the West as well as in Russia. Unlike earlier missions, only a black and white film camera was carried. Photometric measurements of the earth's horizon were made.

Mission objectives were officially: further study of the effect of various space-flight factors in the human organism; extensive medico-biological experiments under conditions of prolonged flight; further elaboration and improvement of spaceship systems. Vostok 5 was originally planned to go for a record eight days. The launch was delayed repeatedly due to high solar activity and technical problems. Finally the spacecraft ended up in a lower than planned orbit. Combined with increased atmospheric activity due to solar levels, Vostok 5 quickly decayed temperatures in the service module reached very high levels. Bykovsky also experienced an unspecified problem with his waste management system (a spill?) which made conditions in the cabin 'very uncomfortable'. He was finally ordered to return after only five days in space. To top it all off, once again the Vostok service module failed to separate cleanly from the reentry sphere. Wild gyrations ensued until the heat of reentry burned through the non-separating retraining strap. Recovered June 19, 1963 11:06 GMT. Landed 53:24 N 67:37 E. 1963 Jun 16 - - 09:30 GMT.

Launch Site: Baikonur . Launch Complex: LC1. Vostok 6 Spacecraft: Vostok 3KA . Payload: Vostok 3KA s/n 8. Mass: 4,713 kg. Joint flight with Vostok 5. First woman in space, and the only Russian woman to go into space until Svetlana Savitskaya 19 years later. On its first orbit, Vostok 6 came within about five km of Vostok 5 , the closest distance achieved during the flight, and established radio contact. Flight objectives included: Comparative analysis of the effect of various space-flight factors on the male and female organisms; medico-biological research; further elaboration and improvement of spaceship systems under conditions of joint flight. It was Korolev's idea just after Gagarin's flight to put a woman into space as yet another novelty. Khrushchev made the final crew selection. Korolev was unhappy with Tereshkova's performance in orbit and she was not permitted to take manual control of the spacecraft as had been planned. Recovered June 19, 1963 8:20 GMT.

Landed 53:16 N 80:27 E. Bibliography: 89 - Semenov, Yu. P., S P Korolev Space Corporation Energia, RKK Energia, 1994. 150 - Clark, P S, Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, "Soviet Spacecraft Masses for Earth Orbital Programmes", 1985, Volume 38, page 19. June 16, 1963 : First woman in space Introduction On June 16, 1963, aboard Vostok 6, Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to travel into space. After 48 orbits and 71 hours, she returned to earth, having spent more time in space than all U.S. astronauts combined to that date. Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova was born to a peasant family in Maslennikovo, Russia, in 1937.

She began work at a textile factory when she was 18, and at age 22 she made her first parachute jump under the auspices of a local aviation club. Her enthusiasm for skydiving brought her to the attention of the Soviet space program, which sought to put a woman in space in the early 1960s as a means of achieving another “space first” before the United States. As an accomplished parachutist, Tereshkova was well equipped to handle one of the most challenging procedures of a Vostok space flight: the mandatory ejection from the capsule at about 20,000 feet during reentry. In February 1962, she was selected along with three other woman parachutists and a female pilot to begin intensive training to become a cosmonaut. In 1963, Tereshkova was chosen to take part in the second dual flight in the Vostok program, involving spacecrafts Vostok 5 and Vostok 6. On June 14, 1963, Vostok 5 was launched into space with cosmonaut Valeri Bykovsky aboard.

With Bykovsky still orbiting the earth, Tereshkova was launched into space on June 16 aboard Vostok 6. The two spacecrafts had different orbits but at one point came within three miles of each other, allowing the two cosmonauts to exchange brief communications. Tereshkova’s spacecraft was guided by an automatic control system, and she never took manual control. On June 19, after just under three days in space, Vostok 6 reentered the atmosphere, and Tereshkova successfully parachuted to earth after ejecting at 20,000 feet. Bykovsky and Vostok 5 landed safely a few hours later. After her historic space flight, Valentina Tereshkova received the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards. In November 1963, she married fellow cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev, reportedly under pressure from Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who saw a propaganda advantage in the pairing of the two single cosmonauts. The couple made several goodwill trips abroad, had a daughter, and later separated.

In 1966, Tereshkova became a member of the Supreme Soviet, the USSR’s national parliament, and she served as the Soviet representative to numerous international women’s organizations and events. She never entered space again, and hers was the last space flight by a female cosmonaut until the 1980s. The United States screened a group of female pilots in 1959 and 1960 for possible astronaut training but later decided to restrict astronaut qualification to men. The first American woman in space was astronaut and physicist Sally Ride, who served as mission specialist on a flight of the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. Article Details: June 16, 1963 : First woman in space Author June 16, 1963 : First woman in space URL 50 Years Ago By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | June 15, 2013 07:00am ET MORE Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly in space, climbs into her capsule, Vostok 6, in 1963.

Credit: Roscosmos Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who 50 years ago this Sunday (June 16) launched aboard the Soviet Union's Vostok 6 mission, set a world record by becoming the first woman in space. But her gender wasn't the only contribution that Tereshkova made to the cultural history of space exploration — she was also the first person to wear a mission emblem on her spacesuit, although it was hidden from view. Now, half a century later, a Dutch artist is set to bring that patch into the light — and to the public — by producing replicas. Valentina Tereshkova was 25, a textile factory assembly worker and an amateur parachutist when she was chosen with four other women to join the Soviet cosmonaut corps in 1962. Her first and only mission a year later marked the twelfth manned — or rather, crewed — space flight in the world. Her Vostok 6 mission, which lasted just shy of three days, was a joint flight with Vostok 5 and its pilot, cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky.

The two spacecraft came within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of each other and the two pilots spoke over radio. [ Infographic: How Valentina Tereshkova's 1963 Vostok 6 Flight Worked ] Flying under the call sign "Seagull" (in Russian "Чайка" or "Chayka"), Tereshkova circled the planet 48 times before returning to Earth under manual control. Like the Vostok pilots that preceded her flight into space, Tereshkova had to eject from the spherical capsule and landed separately by parachute on June 19, 1963. It would take another 20 years (and two days) before the United States launched its own first female astronaut into space, Sally Ride , on June 18, 1983, and by then another Soviet woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, had flown the year earlier. In the 50 years since Valentina Tereshkova lifted off, 56 more women have flown in space (out of 534 people in total), including NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg and China's Wang Yaping , who are both currently in orbit. I am ...

Dove? When Tereshkova reported to the launch pad on June 16, 1963, she was suited in a female version of the spacesuit previously donned by Yuri Gagarin, the world's first human in space, and the Vostok cosmonauts who followed him. Designated the SK-2, the suit was tailored for a woman, with a tapered shoulder, wider hip and narrower opening for the neck. The exterior of the bright orange spacesuit was devoid of any markings. There were no patches or name tags. The only identifier was printed across the front on her helmet, the Cyrillic letters "CCCP" (USSR). But underneath that outer layer and the pressure garment it covered, hidden from view, Tereshkova wore a sky blue thermal garment. And on the left shoulder of that flight suit was a large embroidered emblem, the world's first space mission patch.

[ Photos: Valentina Tereshkova’s Vostok 6 Mission Patch ] "Sewn onto the left breast of a blue thermal outfit, was a large dark-blue flight patch specially prepared by a couple of women in the Zvezda spacesuit research bureau," co-authors Colin Burgess and Francis French described in their 2007 book, "Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era" (University of Nebraska Press). "It depicted a small snow white dove clutching an olive branch, flying against a backdrop of golden sunrays." "Beneath the dove, the initials CCCP had been strikingly embroidered in red cotton," the authors concluded. Tereshkova later described the mission patch as showing a seagull, in reference her flight's call sign. "I am Seagull" ("Ya Chayka") she reported from on board Vostok 6. Valentina Tereshkova's Vostok 6 mission patch, as seen still sewn to the thermal garment that she wore in space in 1963. See collectSPACE.com for the full patch and additional photos.

Credit: Luc van den Abeelen/ collectSPACE.com Hidden on display Only a few of the patches were made before Tereshkova's flight. In addition to the one sewn to her flown suit, two others decorated training and backup thermal garments. For decades, the only way to see the patch was to seek out those historic flight suits. The actual thermal suit that Tereshkova wore in space is today displayed by Zvezda, the company responsible for its production, at its museum outside of Moscow. The backup suit is also held there, but in storage. The outfit that Tereshkova wore to train for her flight is today displayed at the Zhukovsky Air and Space Museum in Moscow. It was photos of those suits that originally inspired Dutch artist Luc van den Abeelen to launch an effort to produce a replica of the patch. "The production of a replica has been a wish of mine since I first saw photos of the patch more than a decade ago," van den Abeelen told collectSPACE in an interview by e-mail. "Close-up photos, the exact shape of the patch and measurements were unknown at the time though, so it was impossible to execute." Replica takes flight Video still showing Valentina Tereshkova donning her spacesuit.

Her mission patch can be seen sewn on her inner thermal suit. Credit: Roscosmos/1TV.ru As the 50th anniversary of the Vostok 6 flight approached, van den Abeelen sought out better photos of the original patches. He also turned to SpacePatches.nl, a foundation based in the Netherlands, to obtain the needed permission and measurements of the flight patches from Zvezda. SpacePatches.nl has collaborated in the recent years with Roscosmos, Russia's federal space agency, to assist in designing and producing embroidered patches for Soyuz spacecraft crews flying to the International Space Station (ISS). Van den Abeelen has also helped design ISS crew patches, including the emblems for the 2003 Soyuz TMA-3 mission and the insignia for the station's 31st expedition crew in 2012. Working together, van den Abeelen and SpacePatches.nl have now produced replicas of Tereshkova's flight patch, both in full size and half size. "Because of the large size of the original, we decided to also produce a half-size souvenir version," wrote van den Abeelen, adding that he expects the smaller patch to be more popular among collectors.

It is surprising, van den Abeelen said, that it has taken 50 years for a replica to be made. "Why a replica was not made sooner is a mystery to me," he shared. "Over the past few years, Russian companies have started to produce space patches commercially in small quantities, but Tereshkova's has never turned up." "Also, still today the first ever patch designed for a crewed space mission is not widely known." Click through to collectSPACE.com to see the first replicas of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkkova's Vostok 6 mission patch. Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @ collectSPACE . Copyright 2013 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

Question: Who successfully piloted the spacecraft Vostok Six in 1963?
Answer: Valentina Tereshkova