Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova(Russian:Валенти́на Влади́мировна Терешко́ва;IPA: [vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə] (listen); born 6 March 1937) is a Russian former cosmonaut. She was the first woman to have flown inspace, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilotVostok 6on 16 June 1963. In order to join the Cosmonaut Corps, Tereshkova was honorarily inducted into theSoviet Air Forceand thus she also became the first civilian to fly in space.
Before her recruitment as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile-factory assembly worker and an amateur skydiver. After the dissolution of the first group of female cosmonauts in 1969, she became a prominent member of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union, holding various political offices. She remained politically active following the collapse of theSoviet Unionand is still regarded as a hero in post-SovietRussia.
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