Tereshkova Was A Pioneer In Man's World During Difficult Time - Virgin Galactic Astronaut

The world's first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, became a pioneer in a man's world at a difficult time and helped create sister city connections between Russia's Star City and US' Nassau Bay, Virgin Galactic future astronaut Loretta Whitesides told Sputnik

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th June, 2023) The world's first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, became a pioneer in a man's world at a difficult time and helped create sister city connections between Russia's Star City and US' Nassau Bay, Virgin Galactic future astronaut Loretta Whitesides told Sputnik.

June 16 marks the anniversary of Tereshkova's historic flight.

"I was very inspired by her historic spaceflight. She was a pioneer in a man's world at a time when it was not easy," Whitesides said. "She also helped with the connection between Star City and Nassau Bay that led to them becoming Sister Cities. It was the Sister City relationship that led to the Soviet space artifacts making their first trip out of the Soviet Union and inspiring me, fresh out of university, to start a global celebration of the conjunction of Cosmonautics Day and the 1st Space Shuttle flight."

Whitesides said Tereshkova was at the opening of the first Yuri's Night in Washington at the Russian Cultural Center in 1999.

"So our celebrations were always under a large framed photo of her. I was never brave enough to invite her!" Whitesides, a Yuri's Night co-creator, said.

June 16 also marks the anniversary of the flight by Sally Ride, the first US woman to travel to space aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983.

"Sally Ride was also a pioneer. She and the other 5 women selected in NASA's 1st class of astronauts were subjected to different scrutiny from the press," Whitesides said.

When Ride passed away due to cancer in 2012, it was a great loss for all of them, Whitesides stressed.

"There were many brave, smart, and determined women who helped break a lot of barriers for my generation, and those after me, to follow and I am eternally grateful," she stated. "The difficulties we faced were hard enough. I cannot imagine the added challenges of outright hostility and institutions and facilities not designed with women in mind that they additionally faced. I want to make sure future generations always learn about their legacy and what they helped open up for us all."

Tereshkova flew into space in 1963 in a Vostok 6 spacecraft. She spent almost three days in space and still is the only woman to have been on a solo mission there. After her retirement, she pursued a political career, becoming a member of the Russian parliament's lower house, the State Duma.