Valentina Tereshkova

Valentina Tereshkova
Валенти́на Влади́мировна Терешко́ва
1963 USSR postage stamp depicting Valentina Tereshkova
Born	Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (1937-03-06) March 6, 1937 Yaroslavl Oblast, USSR
Nationality	Russian
Occupation	Pilot
Space career
Cosmonaut
Rank	Major General, Soviet Air Force
Time in space	2d 22h 50m
Selection	Female Group
Missions	Vostok 6

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валенти́на Влади́мировна Терешко́ва; born 6 March 1937), is a Soviet retired cosmonaut.

She was the first woman to fly in space, aboard Vostok 6 (one of Vostok rocket) on 16 June 1963. She and four others were chosen out of more than 400 other women to fly in space.

Political activity

In 2011, she was elected to the State Duma of Russia from the United Russia party on the Yaroslavl regional list. Tereshkova, together with Elena Mizulina, Irina Yarovaya and Andrey Skoch, is a member of an inter-factional deputy group for the protection of Christian values; in this capacity, she supported the introduction of amendments to the Russian Constitution, according to which, "Orthodoxy is the basis of the national and cultural identity of Russia." Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Federal Structure and Local Self-Government since December 21, 2011.