On June 16, 1963, Valentina Nikolayeva Tereshkova became the first woman to travel into space. [‘On This Day in Space’ Video Series on Space.com]
Tereshkova, a cosmonaut with then-Soviet Russia, launched into space on the Vostok 6 mission and orbited Earth 48 times in 70.8 hours. That's nearly three days alone in space! The goal of Vostok 6 was to better understand the female body's reaction to spaceflight. Tereshkova was give the title Hero of the Soviet Union when she returned from her voyage. Vostok 6 was her only space mission.
