Valentina Tereshkova was born on March 6, 1937 in Bolshoe Maslennikovo, Tutaevskiy rayon, Yaroslavskaya oblast, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia]. She is an editor, known for UFO (2018), Far from St. Petersburg (1991) and Valentina Tereshkova (1972). She was previously married to Nikolayev, Andrian.
First woman to travel in space, 16 - 19 June 1963.
Her ex-husband, Andrian Nikolayev, also a Russian astronaut, had a
heart attack while judging the All Russian Rural Sports Games in
Cheboksary, Russia on 6 July 2004. He was taken to a local hospital and
died that same day. He was 74 years old.
Her call sign was "Chaika" (Seagull).
She told reporters in 2013 that engineers had made a mistake in designing the ship's controls, which would have left her stranded if she hadn't noticed it in time. "It was programmed to raise the orbit instead of landing. I put the new data in and it worked fine." An engineer had disclosed the glitch in 1993.
She went on to an official career, holding various jobs and honorary titles. She holds a Parliament seat, serving as deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house.