In recent years, women have been protagonists in commercial space flights, deployed as commanders, crew members, and researchers on private space missions for purposes that range from scientific experiments to filming movie scenes. But the very first woman to travel into space was Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, on June 16, 1963, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 6.
First Women in Space
Tereshkova, an accomplished parachutist, had been selected in 1962 for intensive training in the Soviet space program. After completing 48 orbits in three days, she ejected at an altitude of 20,000 feet and safely parachuted to earth, having spent more time in space than the combined total of all American astronauts at that date. Tereshkova never went into space again, and in fact no other woman did for another 19 years.
The US had screened a selection of female pilots in 1959 and 1960 in the search for potential astronaut trainees, but subsequently made the decision to limit participation in its space program to men. It wasn’t until 1983 that an American woman finally went into space, when astronaut Sally Ride served on the space shuttle Challenger.
The Future of Space Exploration is Female
Results from a recent study by the Space Medicine Team of the European Space Agency in Germany suggest that, for a variety of reasons, an all-female space exploration team is the most efficient when compared to a mixed-gender or all-male equipage. The study considered the limited space, energy, weight and life support systems crammed into a spacecraft, and concluded that the female body type is the most efficient for long-mission space exploration.
NASA estimates a cost of $93,400 per kilogram to transport loads to the International Space Station (ISS). On a three-year mission, a four-woman crew would need 1695 kg less in terms of food weight – this translates to just over 2 cubic meters of precious extra free space on board, with a cost saving of over $150 million.
Operational Advantages of Female Crews
Long periods of time in microgravity have detrimental effects on the human body, including reduction in muscle, bone, and aerobic capacity. “Countermeasure exercise” has to be done to keep astronauts healthy, and this exercise regime uses up resources like oxygen and water, while producing carbon dioxide and metabolic heat. The bigger body of a male astronaut uses more resources and produces more CO2 and heat. The study also revealed that females lose 29% less water through exercise-induced sweat, and therefore need less to rehydrate.
Smaller crew members can work better in the confined spaces of the ISS, and this is even more important in the projected NASA Gateway craft with tighter workspaces. There are multiple operational benefits to be gained from all-female exploration crews, with the most significant advantages coming from shorter females.
Celebrating Women Astronauts
60 years have passed since Tereshkova’s history-making space flight. Since then, a total of 72 women have flown in space while 44 have worked on the ISS. These women’s past achievements are the foundation of NASA’s future projects to land the first woman of color on the Moon, and the possibility of sending the first crew to Mars.
NASA astronaut Eileen Collins made space history three times, being the first female pilot of a space shuttle mission (1995), the first female shuttle pilot to dock with a space station (1997), and the first woman shuttle commander (1999). Anousheh Ansari was the first Iranian-born American in space (2006), and Yi So-yeon will be remembered as the first Korean in space (2008).
In 2007 another female NASA astronaut, Peggy Whitson, became the first female commander of the ISS, and also the first woman to command the station for a second time in 2017. As of March 2023, Whitson holds the record for the most cumulative spaceflight time for a woman, and indeed for any American astronaut.
Christina Koch and Jessica Meir made history in October 2019 when they carried out the very first all-woman spacewalk. When European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took command of the ISS in September 2022, she became the first European woman to do so, and shortly after, in October 2022, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann became the first Native American woman in space.
10 Women Astronauts Breaking Barriers in Spaceflight
- Valentina Tereshkova is not only the first woman in space, but also the only woman ever to carry out a solo spaceflight. She also holds the record as the youngest female astronaut, aged just 26 when she launched in 1963.
- Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman in space 19 years later. She is the first woman to do it twice, and also made history as the first woman to ever do a spacewalk.
- Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, and also holds the distinction of being the youngest American astronaut to travel to space.
- Christa McAuliffe, chosen by NASA to teach in orbit for their Teacher in Space Project, died tragically in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. Her legacy lives on through NASA’s educational projects which have included her original lesson plans.
- Helen Sharman holds the honor of being the first British person in space, with a journey to the Russian space station Mir in 1991.
- Mae Jemison became the first black woman in space in 1992.
- In 1995, Eileen Collins became the first woman to ever pilot a space shuttle and flew four different missions before retiring.
- Christina Koch not only took part in the historic first all-female spacewalk in 2019 but also broke the record for longest continuous time spent in space by a woman.
- Jessica Meir carried out the first all-woman spacewalk alongside fellow astronaut Christina Koch.
- Peggy Whitson is the woman who has spent more time in space than any other American astronaut, with 665 cumulative days spent on the ISS.
