Tereshkova, Valentina Vladimirovna, teh rehsh KAW vah, vah lehn TEE nah vlah DEE mih rawv nuh (1937-...), a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first woman to travel in space. In the spacecraft Vostok 6, Tereshkova made 48 revolutions around Earth in a 70-hour 50-minute space flight from June 16 to June 19, 1963. Tereshkova orbited Earth once every 88 minutes during her historic journey. She operated her spacecraft by manual controls.