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Although Valentina Tereshkova spent just 70 hours and 50 minutes 'out of this world', she nevertheless become overnight one of the most popular and famous women in the world. Valentina became interested in parachute-jumping at an early age. It was her expertise in this that led to her selection for the Soviet cosmonaut programme. Prior to selection Tereshkova had been a textile-factory assembly worker and an amateur parachutist. Under the direction of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev four women were selected to be trained for a special programme designed to put a woman in space. Of the four women selected, only Tereshkova completed a space flight. Valentina and her fellow female cosmonauts were never truly integrated into the cosmonaut programme, nor were they considered for flight assignments on an equal basis with 'regular' male cosmonauts. Throughout the Soviet period space flights by women were considered only in terms of their propaganda value. Valentina's flight took place at the height of the Cold War, and the entire programme was shrouded in secrecy. When she left for training, Tereshkova reportedly told her mother she was going to a training camp for an elite skydiving team. It wasn't until the flight was announced on the radio that her mother learned the truth. The identities of the other women in the cosmonaut programme were not even revealed until the late 1980s. This historic first flight of a female cosmonaut was scheduled for June of 1964, which left Valentina just 15 months for training. Basic training for the chosen women was very similar to that for male cosmonauts. It included classroom study, parachute jumps, and flight time in an aerobatic jet to familiarise future cosmonauts with the physical demands of space travel. All four ladies were commissioned as second lieutenants in the Soviet Air Force. Tershkova flew with the call-sign 'Chaika' (Seagull). She orbited the earth once every 88 minutes, repeating the mantra 'Ya Chaika' (I'm a Seagull). She remembered afterwards, "It was breathtakingly beautiful, like something out of a fairy tale. There is no way to describe the joy of seeing the Earth. It is blue, and more beautiful than any other planet. Every continent, every ocean, had its own distinct beauty." In fact, Tereshkova had a better chance than most cosmonauts to enjoy the view. She didn't have to carry out any higly-complicated tasks during the flight. Her flight was primarily designed to shed light on the effects of space flight on the female organism. Upon her return Soviet propaganda trumpeted Valentina's flight as having been very successful, but in actual fact the results of her flight were not wholly encouraging. Tereshkova actually had a hard time while flying. Her flight was actually cut short due to the negative impact of space travel on her physical condition. When she returned to earth Tereshkova was actually pulled out of the cockpit of her craft almost unconscious. As a result it was ascertained that cosmic rays emitted by the sun and known to be damaging to the calcium in human bones had a far more harmful effect on women than men. Tereshkova was bed-ridden for two weeks after her flight due to this. After Valentina's triumphant return a joke began circulating that she should marry Andrian Nikolayev, the only bachelor cosmonaut to have been in space. Although Andrian and Valentina did not actively dislike each other, there was no substance to the rumour, but regardless it eventually reached all the way up to Khrushchev. He thought it was a great idea and began applying pressure through Kamanin, the commander of the cosmonaut detachment, for the couple to marry. They finally gave in and the marriage ceremony took place on 3 November, 1963, at Moscow's main wedding palace, followed by a wedding party at a governmental mansion set aside for top-level state receptions. Khrushchev himself presided over the party, together with top government and space programme officials. In 1964, Tereshkova gave birth to a daughter. Soviet doctors were fascinated by the child, the only one born to two 'cosmic' parents, and they were delighted to find that the girl was born healthy. The marriage, however, did not last long, and within a few yers Khrushchev's 'space family' had fallen apart. It was only in the 1980s, with space flights by American female astronauts planned, that the Soviet government again recruited a new group of woman cosmonauts. Unfortunately this planned all-female Soyuz flight was cancelled due to technical problems with the Soviet 'Salyut' space station. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party, which Valentina had first joined back in 1962, the USSR's first female cosmonaut lost her standing. 'Chaika' has since led a quiet life in Moscow, where she remains to this day. Soviet Space Secrets Over the years the Western press have named a number of Soviet cosmonauts that were never officially acknowledged by the Soviet Union. Most were said to have died in space. During the lifetime of the Soviet Union the details of their space programme were kept completely secret, giving rise to all sorts of rumours. The real identities of their rocket and spacecraft engineers were never revealed in their lifetimes. Indeed, the entire project to land a Russian on the moon was kept utterly secret until after the fall of the Soviet Union. Manned flights were normally labelled completely successful, even when it was obvious that the planned objectives were not met. However, there were several exceptions when the death of cosmonauts had to be acknowledged and became occasions of national mourning. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the curtain of secrecy has been partially lifted, with diaries and memoirs of Soviet cosmonauts and engineers at the centre of the space programme published. Back in March 1965 the Italian newspaper 'Corriere della Sera' published a report of sensational radio transmitions allegedly picked up by the Judica-Cordiglia brothers at Torre Bert, Italy. Among these was the reported death of a female cosmonaut who died on 10 November, 1963. Later this date was revised and given as 16-19 May or 19-23 May 1961. The brothers claim that a 'heart-rending' voice can be heard reporting increasing temperatures as the capsule burnt up re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Others have difficulty making anything out of the tape at all. So, the question arises of who was the first woman cosmonaut. Like so much else about the shady Soviet Union, the chances are that we will never really know the truth. |
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