Vostok 6 – Soviet Spacecraft

About the Vostok 6 – Soviet Spacecraft:

On June 16, 1963, twenty-six-year-old Valentina Tereshkova of the USSR became the first woman in space. Before making world history, Tereshkova was a textile worker that loved to skydive. At age 22 she made her first jump. Her skills in parachuting and skydiving led to her selection in the Vostok program. Competing against the Americans, the Soviets believed if they sent a woman into space first, it would be a propaganda victory for them.

Tereshkova rode her Vostok 3KA capsule out of the upper atmosphere on a modified R-7 missile in a mission dubbed "Vostok 6", marking the final flight of the Soviet Union's Vostok program (similar to Project Mercury in the United States). She was strapped inside a 7.5-foot-wide pressurized cabin that contained three small portholes, radios, a life support system, instrumentation, and an ejection seat. The cramped interior was not designed to support life for lengthy periods of time, but rather to prove to the world the power and foresight of the Russian cosmonauts. Tereshkova orbited the earth 48 times in a 70-hour period where she conducted multiple experiments. Before reentry, the cabin separated from the other support systems. As she breached the atmosphere and approached Earth, Tereshkova ejected and descended using her parachute.

Specifications:

Crew size: 1
Members: Valentina Tereshkova
Callsign: Чайка (Chayka - "Seagull")
Launch date: 16 June 1963, 09:29:52 UTC
Rocket: Vostok-K 8K72K
Launch site: Baikonur 1/5