Valentina was 26 years old when the Soviet Union chose her to take a trip alone for the first time. The girl was known in her town for her confidence and her perseverance. Born in Russia in 1936, she lost her father in the first year of World War 2 and was raised by her mother along with two sisters.
The hardship that family of women faced is difficult for us to imagine today. We think today of having a wide range of opportunities and choices, but those multiple options weren’t readily available to Valentina. No, the young girl determined that she would have to work to make any opportunities in life.
And so she did. Without telling anyone, the teen took classes, training, and even got a job her mother didn’t even know about. At her regular school, Valentina excelled at almost every subject. She finished her primary and secondary education in only 7 years. Besides, working, schooling, and training, Valentina enrolled in correspondence courses in a technical school and received a diploma there as well.
But Valentina had other secrets as well. The biggest one was that she learned to skydive. Her love of that sport led her to enter skydiving competitions in the area around their town. And she was good at it. Her sense of competition and her drive to excel attracted the notice of the local communist party leadership. Like most of the young people in her area, Valentina joined the communist party, signing up in 1962. The local party big-wigs sent messages to Moscow about the determined, smart, and competitive Valentina, the hard-working girl who secretly learned to parachute, and they recommended her for higher things in the party.
That led Valentina to be sent on the trip alone at age 26 for the first time. The trip involved a parachute jump, and that’s why the party chose her. Another girl was also chosen to go, but it was decided at the last that only Valentina should travel and make the jump. So, on the morning of June 16, 1963, Valentina said goodbye to her friends and family and left on her trip.
She was gone for three days by herself.
When she came home, she told people that the journey had made her a little sick and that the jump was one of the most difficult she’d ever experienced. She’d felt nauseated and had to fight a strong wind on the descent. But everyone said she’d done so well despite the conditions. Her training and her determination saw her through.
Yes, as Valentina Tereshkova parachuted out of the Vostok space capsule four miles above the earth’s surface, she returned home a hero as having been the first woman in space.
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