Women Explore Space

1. Women Explore Space 1963:  First woman in Space.  Vladimirovna Tereshkova,  a Russian cosmonaut, became the first woman in space.  She orbited the Earth 48 times in her space capsule the Sea Gull, in June 1963. 1960's:  NASA picks 13 female astronauts, called the Mercury 13, who passed the same tests as the all-male Mercury 7.  The Mercury 13 were never assigned to space flights. 1982: Second woman in space.  USSR cosmonaut Yevgenyevna Savitskaya flies to the Russian space station Sayut 7, in August, 1982. 1983: First American woman in space.  Dr. Sally Ride flies on the 7th Space Shuttle Mission on June 18, 1983. 1984: First woman to make a spacewalk.  USSR cosmonaut Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya walks in space. 1984: Second American woman in space.  Dr. Judith Resnick flew the shuttle Discovery in August, 1984.  1984: First American woman to take a spacewalk - Dr Kathryn Sullivan 1984: First women together in space - Kathryn Sullivan and Sally Ride flew together in the shuttle Challenger in October 1984.  1984: First mother in space - Dr. Anna Lee Tingle Fisher, M.D., flew in shuttle  Discovery in November 1984.  1986: First women to die in space flight.  Dr. Judith Resnick and Mrs. Christa McAuliffe die when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on lift-off,  January 28, 1986.  Mrs. McAuliffe was selected from 11,000 profesional educator applicants,   would have been the first teacher in space. 1992: First black woman in space - U.S. astronaut Dr Mae Jemison.  1995: First woman to pilot a space shuttle - U.S. astronaut Eileen  Collins.  1996: Space endurance record for women and overall U.S. space endurance record -    U.S. astronaut Dr Shannon  Lucid in six months aboard the Russian space  station Mir.  She was the first American to take a spacewalk at Mir.  1999: First woman space shuttle commander - U.S. astronaut Eileen Collins in the shuttle mission which launched the Chandra X-ray Observatory. 2001: First woman crew member of the International Space Station - U.S. astronaut Susan Jane Helms -- stayed 165 days in space.