Video: In the shadow of Tereshkova: Why the first woman in outer space Svetlana Savitskaya became a forgotten hero
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
The name of the first female cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, is known to everyone without exception, but Svetlana Savitskaya, who turns 71 on August 8, is rarely mentioned in the media. As a rule, she is called the second female astronaut in the world, forgetting that she was also a pioneer - after all, she became the first woman to walk into outer space. Why the "right to space" after Tereshkova was taken away from women for 19 years, and what happened to Svetlana Savitskaya after she completed her career as a pilot-cosmonaut - further in the review.
Svetlana's father, Yevgeny Savitsky, was a military pilot and air marshal, and since childhood she dreamed of the sky. At the age of 16, Svetlana began to study in the parachute jumping section at DOSAAF and by the age of 18 she was already a master of sports. She told about her youth: "".
After graduating from school, Svetlana entered the Moscow Aviation Institute and at the same time studied at the flight technical school at the Central Committee of DOSAAF, where she received the qualification of an instructor pilot. 1969 to 1977 Savitskaya was a member of the USSR national aerobatic team, set 3 world records in parachuting in group jumping and 18 aviation records in jet aircraft.
After the flight of German Titov, Savitskaya firmly decided that she must certainly fly into space - the example of Yuri Gagarin was an isolated, somehow unprecedented case, and Titov's flight convinced her that the conquest of space had become possible. However, after Tereshkova's flight, 19 years have passed, and since then, the "right to space" has been inaccessible for women - it is known that due to Tereshkova's poor health during the flight, Sergei Korolev said that women had no place in space, and the detachments the pretenders were disbanded. For a long time, Tereshkova was not only the first, but also the only Soviet woman to conquer space, and of course, all the laurels were given only to her. When asked why women are not allowed to fly, the management answered: "". And only after the USA announced the training of female cosmonauts, the USSR also began to think about the training of female crews.
Upon learning of these plans, Savitskaya got hold of the phone number of the head of the space program, Valentin Glushko, and called him with a request to allow her to prepare. Later, she always spoke about him with special warmth and admitted that Glushko played a significant role in her life: "".
Initially, Irina Pronina was supposed to go into outer space first, but a month before the flight she was replaced by Alexander Serebrov - only because she was married for the second time, and this did not correspond to the ideal moral character of a Soviet woman-cosmonaut. But Savitskaya seemed to the management a suitable candidate. In 1980, she was in the squadron of pilot-cosmonauts, and 10 months later she was appointed a test cosmonaut.
34-year-old Savitskaya made her first flight into space in 1982, after which Academician Glushko said: “”. And in 1984 she became the first woman to walk into outer space, where she spent 3 hours and 35 minutes. In addition, in zero gravity, Savitskaya staged a series of biotechnological experiments related to the production of ultrapure medicines. Once again, the USSR managed to bypass the United States in the space race.
Few believed in the success of female cosmonautics in the USSR - it was believed that the female body was not able to cope with overloads. But Svetlana Savitskaya said that in the Union national aerobatics team, she also coped with more serious physical exertion. She proved by her example that female astronauts can cope with the same difficult tasks as men. Savitskaya said: "".
After the successful flights of Savitskaya, there were rumors about the formation of an all-female crew, but this flight in the end never took place. Then Svetlana decided that it was time to fulfill her one more dream - at 38 she became a mother. And she proved one more fact: successful implementation in the profession does not exclude family happiness. "" - she said. Her husband was not an astronaut, but a person who shared her hobbies - engineer and pilot Viktor Khatkovsky.
Svetlana Savitskaya defended her dissertation, receiving a Ph. D. in technical sciences, and after retiring in 1993 she became a teacher at the Moscow Aviation Institute. Since 1989, she is also actively involved in social and political activities, is a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. But if the 50th anniversary of Tereshkova's flight was celebrated on a large scale, then Savitskaya's anniversaries were quiet and modest, with practically no mentions in the press and on television. They say that the reason for this is quite banal - Savitskaya has always been in opposition to the authorities, and her civic position displeased many of the mighty of this world. Therefore, today her merits are rarely remembered.
Recently, the details of the flights of cosmonauts, which were not previously discussed, have been revealed: Unknown facts about Valentina Tereshkova.
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