Valentina Tereshkova

Lore & Background

Tereshkova's flight in 1963 came over a year after Jerrie Cobb, part of the Mercury 13, testified before a Congressional hearing about female astronauts. At that hearing, astronaut John Glenn stated that "men go off and fight the wars and fly the airplanes" and that "the fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order." While Tereshkova's achievement stood in stark contrast to the barriers American women faced in the NASA space program, there is no widely-known canon evidence that she directly responded to Glenn or publicly sympathized with Cobb.

Reader's Guide

Valentina Tereshkova's real-world counterpart became the first woman in space in 1962 aboard Vostok 6. Material, this event is referenced specifically in relation to Jerrie Cobb and the Mercury 13. Her key moment in the narrative occurs after the 1962 Congressional hearing where John Glenn testified against female astronauts. Tereshkova's flight and her subsequent public statement directly challenged the American position on women in space. Her quote — "They (American leaders) shout at every turn about their democracy and at the same time they announce they will not let a woman into space. Her role is defined by contrast: she achieved what the American women of the Mercury 13 were denied, and she publicly called out the hypocrisy she saw in American policy.

Did You Know?

• Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space in 1963, over a year after Jerrie Cobb testified before Congress about female astronauts in July 1962.
• Tereshkova's flight on Vostok 6 occurred in 1963, not 1962 as sometimes misreported.