| Vostok 6 |
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The Russian Vostok 6 was to continue experiments for joint spaceflights and also observe the effect of space travel on the female body. The first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, traveled on this flight.
On June 16, 1963, the Russian Vostok 6 took
the first woman to space: 26-year-old Valentina Tereshkova. The mission
objective was to continue experiments for joint flight and to observe
the effect of space travel on the female body and compare it to the
effect on males. Having a female on this mission and observing her
responses may have been largely for publicity and to beat the Americans
in another "first."
Vostok 6 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport
in Kazakstan. Tereshkova orbited the Earth for approximately 2 days
and 22 hours. As she began her first orbit, she came within 5 kilometers
of Vostok 5 and established radio contact. This faded by the second
day. Tereshkova returned to Earth on June 19, 1963, and parachuted
to the ground as Gagarin had from Vostok 1. Tereshkova later received
the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards for her historic
flight.
(Valentina Tereshkova) |
(Vostok 6) |
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