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posted 05-28-2015 04:44 AM               

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According to various Russian forums and websites, former Soviet cosmonaut Zhanna Dmitriyevna (Yorkina) Sergeychik died on 25th May 2015, aged 76.

She was a member of the first female cosmonaut group, selected in early 1962, to train for a Vostok spaceflight, and achieve the milestone of the "first woman in space."

That flight was eventually completed by Valentina Tereshkova.

The other four members of her selection group are all still alive and live, in retirement, in Russia.

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posted 05-28-2015 11:22 AM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by ColinBurgess:
How exciting it must have been for her at just 23 years of age to have been in contention for the very first space flight by a woman.

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I often think that, of all the groups and generations of astronauts, cosmonauts, and more recently taikonauts, the tale of the 1962 Soviet Female Group is the most extraordinary.

Within a matter of a few weeks, in early 1962, Yorkina was plucked from the obscurity of a provincial flying club, where she was a competent hobby-parachutist, to the embryonic 'Star City', and a military environment, and the very real possibility of being strapped on top of a rocket, within six months.

Although one often wonders how much she, and the others, really knew, or understood, about what they were sign-up for, there is no questioning her bravery, and sense of adventure.

History suggests that she was always an outside bet for the first female spaceflight, yet, she was still under sufficient consideration, to undertake the final pre-selection tests in April/May 1963, which included a three day 'launch to landing' simulation, in the Vostok mock-up.

It is sad that the circumstances of the time meant that she and her colleagues (except Tereshkova) spent the next 25 years hidden from public view, and therefore she never really received the recognition, or acclaim, that she probably deserved. RIP.

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posted 05-28-2015 01:48 PM               

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The first female cosmonauts also had to confront the traditional Russian macho culture at Star City — something that might have been more daunting than the thought of a future spaceflight.

RIP to a true heroine of the early space age.

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