Her name was Seagull. That was her call sign in space. And on Earth, a weather vane in the form of this bird flaunts on the roof of her house. Her mansion is located next to Star City. At one time, she was able to make a space flight alone. She is Valentina Tereshkova. Details of the flight into space of this fragile woman, read the article.
Heavy military childhood
The biography of Valentina Tereshkova began in the spring of 1937 in one of the villages of the Yaroslavl province. Her parents were from Belarus. The astronaut's mother worked at a textile enterprise, and his father was a tractor driver. Unfortunately, her dad died during the Soviet-Finnish conflict. Accordingly, the entire economy and the upbringing of three children fell on the shoulders of the mother. Moreover, the Great Patriotic War soon began.
Undoubtedly, the childhood of little Vali was very difficult. Desolation and despair reigned in the country.
When this terrible war ended, the future astronaut went to first grade. She studied pretty well. In addition, she had a good ear for music. That is why she began to learn to play domra.
However, when she was finishing seventh grade, she had to go to evening school. She was forced to help her mother and earn money. Thus, young Valentina moved to Yaroslavl and got a job there at a tire factory.
When she graduated from high school, she entered the technical school of light industry. Of course, in these walls science comprehended in absentia, like most young people in those days.
Flying Club in Yaroslavl
Becoming a student, on the weekend, Valentina began to visit the city flying club. In this institution practiced parachuting. And she liked these classes very much.
In general, the future astronaut performed more than 160 jumps. By and large, this was a solid indicator, especially for the fairer sex. Valentina was even assigned a sports rank.
In fact, she could not imagine herself without parachuting. And thanks to this passion, the thorny path to the team of space explorers began.
In the cosmonaut squad
After graduating from college, and this happened in 1960, Valentina got a job at a factory called Red Perekop. In addition to the direct work process, she led the Komsomol organization there.
In a word, her life and career seemed to develop according to the standard scenario for Soviet people. However, chance intervened in this story. The fact is that in 1962, academician Sergei Korolev was determined to send a woman into space. Of course, this idea was also approved by the members of the Central Committee of the first Soviet state, including Secretary General Nikita Khrushchev.
To implement a bold plan, project managers began to look for a suitable candidate. We note immediately that there were a lot of people wishing to go into space. Space industry workers had to search for applicants from hundreds of possible.
At the same time, strict requirements were imposed on all participants in the selection. The fairer sex should weigh no more than 70 kg, height - 170 cm. In addition, these girls should have in their assets a decent number of parachute jumps.
There was another important circumstance. When choosing leaders, they took into account a number of aspects of ideological and political literacy. They also examined the ability of candidates for public activities. As a sportsman in parachuting and the head of a factory Komsomol organization, Tereshkova, in principle, was an ideal contender. She suited all the criteria. In a word, she was considered an ideologically reliable person.
As a result, five girls were chosen for a manned space flight. Of course, Tereshkova was among them. All of them were officially called up for military service. They became ordinary and began to train hard. And the conditions in the classroom were pretty harsh. Let's say they had to spend as many as ten days in the sound chamber.
They say that project managers as a result chose Tatyana Morozycheva. By the way, Valentina studied with her in the Yaroslavl club. And she made parachute jumps more than Tereshkova.
Be that as it may, the members of the last medical board found out that Tatyana was pregnant. Thus, it finally became clear that Valentine would nevertheless go into space.
Flight
When she realized that she would soon be in space, she tried to hide her plans from her relatives. She said then that she was going to leave for the next competitions in parachuting.
So in what year did Valentina Tereshkova fly? The event took place in the middle of the summer of 1963. Her callsign was Seagull. The launch of Vostok-6 went smoothly. The first space flight by Valentina Tereshkova lasted more than two days. During this time, the device made 48 orbits around the Earth.
A woman traveled a space voyage rather poorly. The duration of the flight in space Valentina Tereshkova - 70 hours. But they were literally hell for her.
As it turned out, there was an inaccuracy in the Vostok-6 automatic program. The fact is that the ship oriented a little differently than it should have been. And Tereshkova did not approach the planet at all, but moved away from it. She was sick, dizzy. At the same time, the spacesuit was not allowed to be removed. On the second day of the flight, my lower leg began to hurt.
Valentina Tereshkova in space was forced to sharply limit her movements. She sat almost motionless. However, she still managed to put new data into the computer. By the way, she did not tell anyone about this state of emergency, except for flight managers. Actually, Korolev himself then asked her to remain silent.
The problems that arose in the astronaut had an explanation in terms of physiology. They say that when the medical commission examined her before the flight, the results were very poor. However, at the direction of Khrushchev, she was still allowed to fly.
Be that as it may, despite her physical condition during the flight into space, Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna was able to withstand all the tests. She managed not only to regularly keep a journal on board, but also to take pictures. Subsequently, these images came in handy in future space travel. In a word, she held on and sent exceptionally positive reports to Earth.
Landing
The spacecraft landed in Altai. True, when after a space flight Valentina Tereshkova (year - 1963) ejected, hit her helmet very hard. She got a big bruise on her temple and cheek. As a result, when they found her, she was almost unconscious.
She was urgently brought to the capital and hospitalized. And a little later, doctors said that the life and health of the first woman-cosmonaut is out of danger.
When she finally came to, the newsreel staff managed to make a production shoot. It was as if Valentina Tereshkova (the date of the event was June 16, 1963) was in the spacecraft after a space flight. Extras ran to him. Then they opened the lid and saw a cheerful and smiling Tereshkova. These frames then circled the entire planet.
Subsequently, as a reward, Tereshkova was given a three-room apartment in her homeland, in Yaroslavl. Here she lived for almost three years, after which she finally settled in the capital.
Symbol woman
The seagull actually returned from space as a female symbol. The fairer sex began to imitate her. They did haircuts under Tereshkova. A watch with the name “Seagull” appeared in stores.
Party leaders constantly invited her to Kremlin events. A number of public organizations included it in the composition of the meetings.
The government awarded her, in addition to the Hero star, prestigious awards. She became the only female general in the Soviet Army. In addition, she became the hero of such republics as Mongolia and Bulgaria.
She also received the title of “The Greatest Woman of the Twentieth Century”. In her honor they named a small planet, streets in cities, the Evpatoria embankment, the square in Tver, city schools, a museum and a planetarium. In addition, one of the lunar craters was named after her.
Public figure
After flying into space, Valentina Tereshkova (you already know the date of the event) began working as an instructor and tester of spacecraft.
Two years later, she began to study at the Air Force Academy and five years later received a red diploma.
Over the course of her studies, she wrote nearly fifty works on this specialization. But since 1966, actively engaged in social activities. She became a deputy of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union. She was also the second person in the International Federation of Women. It was then that she began to be called the Iron Lady.
Honestly, Tereshkova was very weighed down by this party load. She said that she did not receive any money for her community service. And she always dreamed of a new flight. She even tried to break into the new squad of astronauts. However, after the death of Gagarin, the Soviet government decided to protect the "first".
Valentina continued to be interested in space. She dreamed of flying to Mars. At the same time, she understood that this flight would be one way ...
In the 90s, she was the head of the Association for International Cooperation and the Council for the Coordination of Activities of Russian Science Centers.
And at the end of this decade, she began working at the Cosmonaut Training Center. She got the post of senior researcher there.
Present time
Since 2008, Tereshkova collaborated with the United Russia party. She was a State Duma deputy. She always helped her Yaroslavl school and some other children's institutions. Thanks to her, a university, a planetarium and a river station were opened in Yaroslavl.
In the spring of 2008, she turned out to be the torchbearer of the domestic stage of the Beijing Olympic Games torch relay .
Three years later, she again became the people's choice.
In 2014, she carried the Russian flag at the Olympics in Sochi.
And in 2015, she headed a non-profit charitable foundation called Memory of Generations.
In 2016, she once again won the election race, becoming a deputy of the State Duma.
Orbital marriage
Five months after the landmark flight into space, Valentina Tereshkova (year - 1963) got married. Her chosen one was the astronaut Andrian Nikolaev. This act was too unexpected for many. At least the residents of Yaroslavl knew that she allegedly had a groom. True, the journalists could not find him.
Be that as it may, the 35-year-old cosmonaut Nikolaev actually looked after the young Valentina. She was then twenty-six. Many believed that this relationship would not last long. They were too different - strong and strong-willed. They say that the head of the Soviet state Nikita Khrushchev himself knocked them together. There was no such stellar, cosmic, orbital pair then. But this marriage still existed for nineteen years.
The first-born daughter, Lena, appeared in the couple. At one time, she perfectly graduated from both school and medical institute. She works as an orthopedic surgeon. She has two sons - Alex and Andrey.
In the late 70s, the space couple began to appear together less frequently. About to get a divorce, there was no question. For Nikolaev’s “immorality” could easily be fired from the cosmonaut corps. Moreover, in fact, then two applicants to the astronauts were expelled due to divorces. Yes, and Tereshkova, the head of the Committee of Soviet Women, is somehow uncomfortable to be in a state of divorce.
They say that the situation was saved by Brezhnev. He personally agreed to this divorce. By this time, Tereshkova was in love again.
Second marriage
With the new chosen one, Valentina Tereshkova, whose photo you have the opportunity to see in the article, met in 1978. By this moment, she was again in the cosmonaut corps and hoped that she would set off on her new space journey. And Julius Shaposhnikov in those days served at the medical academy. He checked the health of the astronauts. Employees called him "hard worker" and "modest." And Valentina herself always spoke warmly about him.
Then it was clear that they were in love. They say that because of the new romance, Shaposhnikov left his family.
They lived together for two decades, almost. During this time, the husband of Tereshkova was able to lead the Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics. He also became a major general. But in 1999, he died due to cancer.
Recent story
At the moment, Tereshkova has almost no close people left. There was a time, she loved her own little brother very much. His name was Vladimir. He worked as a cameraman in Star City. A few years ago he was gone.
Valentina’s mother has also long been gone. Until the last she was looking for a father. As stated earlier, he died when the Soviet-Finnish war was fought. It was known that he died the death of the brave on the territory of the Karelian Isthmus. But his grave, of course, was not then. And only in the late 80s, the head of the defense department D. Yazov helped her find his burial place. He was able to allocate funds to fly around the area. As a result, a mass grave was found in the forest. Tereshkova was even able to erect a monument there. Since then, she regularly visits this place.
Despite her age, she can still boast of her good health. Although in 2004 she underwent heart surgery. Otherwise, she would have suffered a heart attack.
Until the last, Seagull continues to do a lot for his native region. And in 1996, the head of the school where she studied fell ill. At this moment, the teacher needed an urgent operation. Thanks to Valentina, she was operated on in the capital. And for free.
The female symbol has great connections. True, quite a little is known about this side of her life. In the 80s, she “closed” from the media because of stupid articles about her. Her silence was broken only a few years ago.