What if I told you a factory worker who loved jumping out of planes became the first woman to ever zoom through outer space?

The Day the First Woman Blasted Into Space!

Meet Valentina Tereshkova, the cosmic pioneer who orbited Earth 48 times!

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space, orbiting Earth 48 times in 1963!

On June 16, 1963, something absolutely amazing happened high above our planet. A 26-year-old woman named Valentina Tereshkova became the FIRST woman EVER to travel to space!

Valentina grew up in a small village in Russia. As a teenager, she loved skydiving — she jumped out of planes over 100 times! When the Soviet space program needed brave volunteers, Valentina raised her hand.

Her spacecraft was called Vostok 6, and it was about the size of a small car. Can you imagine flying around the entire Earth in something that tiny? Valentina zoomed through space at over 17,000 miles per hour — that's fast enough to travel from New York to Los Angeles in just 8 minutes!

During her incredible journey, Valentina orbited Earth 48 times over nearly three days. She saw 48 sunrises and 48 sunsets! She took photographs, kept a flight log, and even ate space food from tubes.

💡 Valentina was working in a textile factory when she was selected to become a cosmonaut — she was chosen partly because of her awesome skydiving skills!