Valentina Tereshkova
Ink, acrylic and watercolor on 9″ x 12″ watercolor paper
The latest addition to the ‘She Changed the World’ collection!
Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in outer space, and was the first civilian to fly in space. From a young age she was fascinated with skydiving and did her first jump when she was 22 in 1959. In 1962 she was selected by the Soviet Union’s chief rocket engineer, Sergey Korolyov to be the first woman to fly in space, a mission later confirmed by Nikita Khrushchev himself. On June 16, 1963 she was launched in Vostok 6 and went on to orbit the Earth 48 times over the course of nearly three days.
After her flight she dedicated her life to politics, serving as a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, as a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and serves to this day in the State Durma, the lower house of the Russian legislature. She is regarded as one of the great heroes in Russia and has been awarded numerous honors around the world. A lunar crater has even been named after her.
When she was asked after her flight how the Soviet Union could honor her, she asked that they find the place where her father died in World War II. Through exhaustive investigation the location was found and a permanent marker stands there to honor him, and her in turn.