Valentina Tereshkova
Personal Information
Born: 1937
Country of Birth: Russia
Nationality: Russia
Ethnicity: White
Education
Light Industry Technical School 1960; Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy 1969; 1977 Doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering
Professional Life
Field of Study: Astronautics
Institution/Corporation: none
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: University of Edinburgh (1990)
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1963 Hero of the Soviet Union Medal; 1963 Order of Lenin; 2015 Order of Alexander Newsky;Order of Merit for the Fatherland 3rd class 1997 2nd class 2007 & 1st class 2017; 2003 Order of Honour; 2011 Order of Friendship; 2009 Russian Federation State Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Humanitarian Action in 2008; 2016 Participant of the Military Operation in Syria Medal; 2018 Strengthening the Military Community Medal; Certificates of Appreciation from the Governemnt of the Russian Federation 1997 2003 & 2008; 2008 Order of St. Euphrosyne of Moscow; 1963 Merited Master of Sports of the Soviet Union; 1971 Order of the October Revolution; 1987 Order of the Red Banner of Labour; Order of the Friendship of Peoples; 1963 Pilot-Cosmonaut of the Soviet Union; 1963 Gold Star Hero of Socialist Labour Bulgaria; 1963 Order of Georgi Dimitrov Bulgaria; 1963 Order of Karl Marx East Germany; 1963 Artur Becker Medal East Germany; 1963 Cross of Grunwald 1st class Poland; 1965 Order of the Flag of the Republic of Hungary 1st class; 1963 Star of the Republic of Indonesia 2nd class; 1964 Order of the Volta Ghana; 1965 Gold Star Medal of the Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic; 1965 Order of Sukhbaatar Mongolia; 1969 Order of the Enlightenment Afghanistan; 1969 Order of the Planets Jordan; 1971 Order of the Nile Egypt; 1971 Gold Star of Hero of Labor Vietnam; 1972 Order of Bernardo O'Higgins Chile; 1974 Order of Ana Betancourt Cuba; 1997 Order of Friendship Laos; 2005 Order of Duke Branimer with sash Croatia; 2007 Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor German Eduard Rhein Foundation; 1964 Gold Medal of the British Society for Interplanetary Communications for Acievements in Space Exploration;1963 Fold Space Medal (FAI); a crater on the moon is named after her
Achievements: 1st & youngest woman in space; solo mission orbited Earth 48 times & mission lasted almost 3 days
1st woman ever to fly in space (1963); spent over 70 hours in space during her solo mission
1st civilian to journey into space
Didn't start school until she was 8 or 10 (depending on which source you believe); by 16 or 17 (again depending on source) she quit school & went to work in a factory to help support her family (again depending on the source, it was either a tire factory or textile mill)
Had no formal pilot training
Was an amateur skydiver
Continued her education through correspondence courses