Valentina Tereshkova Becomes First Woman in Space Aboard Vostok 6

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova became the first woman to fly in space when she launched aboard Vostok 6 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Over the course of nearly three days, she completed 48 orbits of Earth, logging more flight time than all American astronauts combined at that point. Tereshkova was selected from over 400 applicants and underwent 18 months of training for the mission. It would be 19 years before another woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, flew in space, and 20 years before the first American woman, Sally Ride, reached orbit.