I bet you know that Russian women are not only beautiful and good-natured, but also very hard-working, determined and brave! Valentina Tereshkova is one the brightest example of Russian women, who work hard to make their dreams come true. She was born in poor village Maslennikovo, her father died in the war and her mother raised three children by herself.

But since early childhood Valentina as a lot of Russian women was brave and optimistic and worked hard to have a better life! Her youth wasn’t easy.She was working in a sewing factory and at the weekend was going to a parachuting workshop. After the successful space flight of Yuri Gagarin, Soviet leadership was looking for a “suitable” young woman with a good biography for another space record.

In 1962 Valentina Tereshkova was selected for the training for a space flight. She was one the best female candidate for a flight because she was clever, young (25 years old) and healthy. The first flight of the spacecraft “Vostok – 5” with the first woman astronaut on board took place on April 16, 1963. There were a lot of difficulties during the flight, but the Soviet press didn’t say anything and Tereshkova – “Miss Universe” from the USSR became famous all over the world!
Only now she tells the secret details of the flight: ship didn’t go in the right direction, she was hungry these three days because the space food wasn’t nutritious and she also had problems on landing. Only now the doctors who were responsible for Tereshkova’s health confessed that the flight was suffered by Tereshkova quite hard, and this is probably one of the reasons why the next space flight with a woman took place only in 19 years.
Tereshkova’s flight lasted 2 days 22 hours and 50 minutes. But it was not easy for a female body! If calcium in a male astronaut’s body was renewed in 10-12 days, Tereshkova could not get up for about a month. Her bones became brittle and any fall could cause fracture

But Tereshkova survived and became not only “Miss Universe”, but also a caring wife and mother! There were a lot of gossips about her personal life. Her first husband and father of her only child, Adrian Nikolayev was also an astronaut. They were married for about 19 years and had to ask for a special permission of Leonid Brezhnev to get a divorce. It was not easy because Valentina and Adrian were the “perfect Soviet couple”. Valentina Tereshkova and her second husband, a doctor Yuri Shaposhikov lived happily for 20 years until the death of Yuri.

After the famous flight, Valentina became a very special person in the USSR: she was the deputy, the Chairman of the Committee of Soviet Women, was involved in social work. Valentina’s friends say that she is a very sympathetic, kind and helpful person and made a lot of good! Even now in her 76 years she supports two orphanages in Yaroslavl and the monastery in Kolomna.

Unfortunately, after her first space flight, Valentina was not allowed to fly again. The reason was unfair: after Yuri Gagarin’s death, the Soviet leadership didn’t want to lose their “symbol” of superiority in space!

So, who is Valentina Tereshkova – a genius or a simple Russian woman who had a lot of luck to be the first woman in space? I guess, both. Since 1963, when Valentina Tereshkova opened the era of women’s space, 57 women participated in space flights. But she was the first one who proved to everyone that for those who believe in something bright there are no boundaries or restrictions!