was the first man in space or to set foot on the lunar surface? People with even a remote interest in space history know the answers to these trivial questions. But what about the first woman in orbit or the first shuttle commander? These are much more difficult questions for stargazers. However, many women have distinguished themselves in space exploration by becoming pioneers in this field. In this article, let's meet three of them, whose names deserve to be known because of their incredible exploits.
On June 16, 1963, the Vostok 6 spacecraft soared above the Soviet Baikonur cosmodrome. On board was Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in history to emerge from Earth's atmosphere, just over two years after Yuri Gagarin. Aged 26 at the time, she was selected for her practice of skydiving as well as for her ease in front of the media. Its proximity to the Communist Party also weighed in the balance for his nomination. The political dimension of spaceflight is indeed not something to be eluded to explain the sending of a woman into space:the Soviets did not want to leave the first to the Americans.
Still today, Valentina Tereshkova remains the only woman to have set off alone for the stars . She also remainsone of the youngest people to have been in orbit. Since then, many other women have joined her in the pantheon of astronauts, but it took twenty years for the second to inscribe her name in the history of the pioneers of space exploration.
In 1984, to promote space exploration to the American population, President Ronald Reagan wanted to make space accessible to ordinary people. From this initiative was born the program Teacher in Space Project . NASA then organized a national selection to choose a teacher who was to become the first space passenger.Among the 11,500 applications , Christa McAuliffe has been selected to teach the first in-orbit course in history. This professor of social sciences was also to carry out other experiments during the mission.
However, she never had the chance to give a live tour of the Challenger shuttle to millions of young students left behind on Earth. Shortly after the launch of the rocket, the ship did indeed explode, claiming the lives of the seven astronauts in front of television cameras around the world. The sacrifice of Christa McAuliffe remains a trauma for American society. Her training to transform from a normal person to an accomplished astronaut received extensive media coverage, which made her very popular with the public.
Born in 1918, Katherine Johnson developed an affinity for mathematics at a very young age. She returned to NASA in 1953 where she carried out calculations and trajectory corrections that were decisive for many space missions. However, to reduce Katherine Johnson to a simple human calculator would amount to denying her crucial role in space exploration.
The physicist may have never flown aboard a shuttle. However, well before the democratization of the computer tool, its expertise made it possible to carry out incredible maneuvers in space during the second half of the 20th century . She notably contributed to the first American orbiting as well as to the historic lunar mission of Apollo 11. With Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson has achieved the double feat of imposing herself in a world of white men as an African American woman . An exceptional destiny that is well worth a film, isn't it?
