Who became the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6?

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6.

The Soviet cosmonaut launched on 16 June 1963 and spent nearly three days in orbit, completing 48 orbits of Earth. Her mission ended on 19 June, making her the first woman to travel to space and, at the time, the only woman to have flown there.

Tereshkova was selected from a large group of female parachutists and trained extensively for the mission. Her call sign was “Chaika,” meaning “Seagull.” Vostok 6 flew at the same time as Vostok 5, piloted by cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky, allowing the two spacecraft to communicate.

The United States sent its first woman into space much later: Sally Ride flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983. Svetlana Savitskaya later became the first woman to perform a spacewalk, in 1984.