First Woman in Space

Valentina Tereshkova ( Russian ; born 6 March 1937 ) is the first woman in space, now a retired Soviet cosmonaut. Out of more than four hundred applicants and then out of five finalists, she was selected to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963 and became the first woman to fly on space.

Before being recruited as a cosmonaut, Tereshkova was a textile - factory assembly worker and an amateur parachutist. After the famale cosmonaut groups dissolved in 1969, she became a prominent member the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, holding various political offices.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, she retired from politics but remained revered as a hero in Russia.