Valentina Tereshkova—the first woman in space—was born in Bolshoye Maslennikovo, a small village in the Yaroslavl Oblast in western Russia. Her father was a tractor driver and her mother worked in a textile plant. She began school in 1945 at the age of eight, but left school in 1953 and continued her education by correspondence courses. She became interested in parachuting from a young age, and trained in parachuting at the local Aeroclub, making her first jump at age 22 on May 21, 1959. It was her expertise in parachute jumping that led to her selection as a cosmonaut. Tereshkova was a textile-factory assembly worker and an amateur parachutist when she was recruited into the cosmonaut program. In 1961 she became secretary of the local Komsomol (Young Communist League) and later joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
On February 16, 1962, Valentina Tereshkova was selected to join the female cosmonaut corps. Out of more than four hundred applicants, five were selected: Tatiana Kuznetsova, Irina Solovyova, Zhanna Yerkina, Valentina Ponomareva, and Tereshkova. Qualifications included that they be parachutists under 30 years of age, under 170 cm tall, and under 70 kg in weight.
Tereshkova was considered a particularly worthy candidate, partly due to her 'proletarian' background, and because her father, tank leader, sergeant Vladimir Tereshkov had died as a war hero in the Finnish Winter War during World War II in the Lemetti area in Finnish Karelia. Tereshkova was two years old at the time of her father's death. After her mission she was asked about how the Soviet Union should thank her for her service to the country. Tereshkova asked the state to search and publish the location where her father was killed in action. This was done and a monument is now standing at the site in Lemetti—now on the Russian side of the border. Tereshkova has since visited Finland several times.
At the time of her selection, Tereshkova was ten years younger than the youngest Mercury Seven astronaut, Gordon Cooper. After watching the successful launch of Vostok 5 on June 14, Tereshkova began final preparations for her own flight. On the morning of June 16, 1963, Tereshkova and her back-up Solovyeva were both dressed in spacesuits and taken to the launch pad by bus. After completing her communication and life support checks, she was sealed inside the Vostok. After a flawless countdown, two hours later Vostok 6 launched faultlessly, and Tereshkova became the first woman to fly into space. Her call sign in this flight was Chaika, which in english means seagull.
