Published on June 13, 2018
0:41 -
Valentina Tereshkova: I for them [cosmonauts who were shown before] as a talisman bringing good luck.
2:08 -
Valentina Tereshkova: The call sign
The seagull belonged to Sergey Korolev. We thought that if Russia, then a symbol must be
Birch. But communication was carried out by Morse code. And the seagull / Чайка -> ЧК was shorter than the birch / Берёза -> БРЗ.
2:44 -
Alexei Leonov: It was an extraordinary rejoicing. Press with dozens of movie cameras, they all wanted to see who she was. Women have risen in spirit. Because they have proved that they too can do this.
3:05 -
Valentina Tereshkova: With a feeling of deep excitement, I wholeheartedly thank our Soviet government for the fact that I - (a Soviet woman, a former worker of the Yaroslavl Textile Combine "Krasny Perekop") - was entrusted to carry out a long time space flight.
3:28 -
Valentina Tereshkova: Of course, there were a lot of people wishing to fly into space. I was lucky. Of the large number, 5 women were selected. Two women were from Moscow, one woman from Sverdlovsk [Yekaterinburg], one woman from Ryazan and I from Yaroslavl. And then the preparations for the flight began.
4:00 -
Alexei Leonov: Preparation of the women's team was completely the same as the men's crews. It was very hard for them. And now it's even difficult for us to imagine how hard it was for them!
4:58 -
Valentina Tereshkova: Then it was the first flights. And of course a lot of things were unknown. Then it was necessary to start from the very beginning and gain experience, which is now used in training cosmonauts. It was hard work, a complicated work, but a happy work.
5:32 -
Man: Here is the machine where Valentina Tereshkova worked. Soon it will be transported to the museum.
5:50 -
Voice: This is the Yaroslavl Textile Combine "Krasny Perekop." Here she heard on the radio news about the flight of Yuri Gagarin, which changed her life.
6:01 -
Valentina Tereshkova: We had a huge team at the plant. We constantly discussed: What is he like? How does he feel himself? How hard is it for him?
We were genuinely interested in all this. And there are a lot of people on the streets and they already had a portrait of Gagarin. And we were happy. And everyone said: "He is ours. He is our Soviet man."
6:30 -
Voice: On weekends she was constantly at the airport in Yaroslavl. She made about 100 jumps with a parachute.
6:38 -
Valentina Tereshkova: The first cosmonauts were recruited mainly from fighter pilots. Because they are people who make the right decisions instantly. In their work there is no possibility to think long time.
We were recruited from among the paratroopers. In this kind of activity, too, there is no time for reflection.
7:31 - This is Irina Solovyova, she was an alternate of Valentina Tereshkova.
7:57 -
Valentina Tereshkova: We did not know how to fly a plane. We were taught how to rule transport planes and MiG-15UTI jet aircraft.
8:20 - This is cosmonaut Anna Kikina.
8:55 -
Man: On behalf of the command of the Air Force I am proposing:
that sub lieutenant Tereshkova be appointed Commander of the Vostok-6 spacecraft;
that sub lieutenant Solovyova be appointed Deputy Commander;
that sub lieutenant Ponomareva be appointed Deputy Commander.
9:14 -
Valentina Tereshkova: It's hard for me to say why I was chosen. We were almost equally well prepared. Only one woman was rejected for medical reasons. But the state commission and Sergey Korolev chose …
9:30 -
Valentina Tereshkova: I'm happy that I - (an ordinary Soviet girl) has the great honor to fly into space. I assure you that I will perform all tasks during the flight as a communist.
10:10 -
Valentina Tereshkova: Оf course, there was not the rescue system. Around was a metal mesh. And there were holes in it, through which it was possible to fail even in a spacesuit. When we came, they told me: "Do not worry, the mesh will be able to catch you."
11:12 -
Nikita Khrushchev: Your call sign
the Seagull but allow me to call you just Valya. I am very happy and almost like a father I am proud that our girl is the world's first in space.
11:31 -
Valentina Tereshkova: My heart trembled only when I talked with my mom. I flew over the Volga, my native river, on which I grew up. And when I spoke with my mother, my voice trembled even though I needed to tell her comforting words. She became a widow at 26 with three children. We could not say where we are going and we gave a subscription about the non-disclosure of secrecy. And my mom thought that I was taken to the second national team in the parachute sport.
Then my mother told me "You deceived me." I will never forget this. I said, "Mom, forgive me."
12:09 -
Valentina Tereshkova: I saw that the engine's brake unit was not aimed at lowering the spacecraft but it was aimed at the rise of the spacecraft. I reported this to the Earth.
12:28 -
Valentina Tereshkova: My report caused a big stir there. For a while they counted and checked everything and then they gave me new data. I used this data and my landing passed normally. I landed in the Altai Krai. I was amazed at the endless fields around. The wind was strong, so I had to stand on my head [in the air?] a couple of times. But this is a normal phenomenon and the parachutists are familiar with it.
13:01 -
Valentina Tereshkova: Immediately someone brought onions, and someone brought cucumbers. It was an incredibly generous hospitality. I gave them space food.
13:47 -
Voice: Before the start Valentina Tereshkova promised that she would conquer outer space. She quoted a line from Vladimir Mayakovsky's poems:
"Hey! Sky! Take off your hat..." [as a sign of respect for me]
Space gave way to the first woman of the planet Earth. Tereshkova conquered it.