Some time ago I started a series of entries called Where are they now? with a little blurb about Paul Hardcastle

Here comes the part two… drum roll..

Where are they now?
Valentina Tereshkova

Valentina Tereshkova was born to a peasant family in the Yaroslavl’ region of the former USSR in 1937. Yaroslavl is now a part of Russia.

Soon after starting work in a textile mill at the age of 18, Valentina joined an amateur parachuting club. She was a hard worker. Later, at the age of 24, she applied to become a cosmonaut. Just earlier that year, 1961, the Soviet space program began to consider sending women into space. The Soviets were looking for another “first” at which to beat the United States.

As per the paranoia of the time, the entire program was shrouded in secrecy. When she left for training, Tereshkova reportedly told her mother she was going to a training camp for an elite skydiving team. It wasn’t until the flight was announced on the radio that her mother learned the truth. The identities of the other women in the cosmonaut program were not revealed until the late 1980s. Valentina Tereshkova was the only one of the group to go into space.

According to the about.com article she became a rather influential figure in the politics. She was a member of the parliament and the president of the Women’s Committee. In recent years, she has lead a quiet life in Moscow.

She was awarded the Greatest Woman Achiever of the Century award in 2000.

More information available in Wikipedia

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