On June 16, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to have flown in space on a solo mission on the Vostok 6. She orbited the Earth 48 times spent almost 3 days in space & remains the only woman to have been on a solo space mission. She is also the youngest woman to have done so. Before joining the Soviet space programme, she was a textile worker and amateur skydiver.
Valentina Tereshkova first woman in space (2017-03-06)
After the dissolution of the first group of female cosmonauts in 1969, Tereshkova remained in the space program as a cosmonaut instructor and then went on to hold various political offices as a member of the Communist Party, after retiring from the Air Force as major general in 1997.
