This document provides biographies of four pioneering female astronauts: - Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman in space, piloting Vostok 6 in 1963 for the Soviet Union. She conducted medical experiments and later held several political positions. - Sally Ride was the first American woman and youngest American to enter space in 1983. She received numerous awards and helped investigate two space shuttle accidents. - Anna Fisher was the first mother in space, flying aboard STS-51-A in 1984. She took time off to raise her family but returned to NASA to work on the International Space Station. - Tamara Jernigan is an American scientist and astronaut who has flown on five

1. WOMEN
ASTRONAUTS
SCIENCE

3. VALENTINA VLADIMIROVNA
TERESHKOVA
 Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova born
March 6, 1937) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut,
and was the first woman in space. She was
selected out of more than four hundred
applicants, and then out of five finalists, to pilot
Vostok 6 on the 16 June, 1963, becoming both
the first woman and the first civilian to fly in
space, as she was only honorarily inducted into
the USSR's air as a condition on joining the
Cosmonaut Corps.

4. During her three-day mission, she performed
various tests on herself to collect data on the
female body's reaction to spaceflight. she
studied at the Zhukov sky Air Force Academy
and graduated with distinction as a
cosmonaut engineer. In 1977 she earned a
doctorate in engineering. Due to her
prominence she was chosen for several
political positions: from 1966 to 1974 she was
a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet
Union, from 1974 to 1989 a member of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and from
1969 to 1991 she was in the Central
Committee of the Communist Party. In 1997
she was retired from the air force and the
cosmonaut corps by presidential order.

5. Valentina Tereshkova received the Order of
Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards for
her historic flight. Later she served as the
president of the Soviet Women's Committee
and became a member of the Supreme Soviet,
the USSR's national parliament, and the
Presidium, a special panel within the Soviet
government. In recent years, she has led a
quiet life in Moscow.

7. SALLY KRISTEN RIDE
Sally Kristen Ride (born May 26, 1951) is an
American physicist and a former NASA
astronaut. Ride joined NASA in 1978, and in
1983 became the first American woman—and
then-youngest American, at 32—to enter
space. In 1987 she left NASA to work at
Stanford University's Center for International
Security and Arms Control. Ride has received
numerous awards, including the National
Space Society's von Braun Award, the
Lindbergh Eagle, and the NCAA's Theodore
Roosevelt Award.

8. She has been inducted into the National
Women's Hall of Fame and the Astronaut Hall
of Fame, and has twice been awarded the
NASA Space Flight Medal. Ride is the only
person to serve on both of the panels
investigating Shuttle accidents (those for the
Challenger accident and the Space Shuttle
Columbia disaster). Two elementary schools in
the United States are named after her: Sally K.
Ride Elementary School in The Woodlands,
Texas, and Sally K. Ride Elementary School in
Germantown, Maryland

9. On December 6, 2006, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria
Shriver inducted Ride into the California Hall
of Fame, located at The California Museum for
History, Women, and the Arts.

11. ANNA LEE TINGLE FISHER
Anna Lee Tingle Fisher (born August 24, 1949)
is an American chemist and a NASA astronaut.
Fisher was selected as an astronaut candidate
in January 1978. In August 1979, she
completed her training and evaluation period,
making her eligible for assignment as a
mission specialist on space shuttle flight
crews. Fisher decided to take an extended
leave 1988 to 1996 to raise her family. When
she first returned to the Astronaut Office, she
was assigned to the Operations Planning

12. Branch to work on the procedures and training
issues in support of the International Space
Station. She served as the Branch Chief of the
Operations Planning Branch from June 1997-
June 1998.Fisher was a mission specialist on
STS-51A which launched November 8, 1984.
She was accompanied by Frederick Hauck
(spacecraft commander), David Walker (pilot)
and fellow mission specialists Dr. Joseph Allen
and Dale Gardner. With the completion of her
flight, Fisher logged a total of 192 hours in
space . Fisher became the first mother in
space when she went up on STS-51-A .

13. she was awarded a National Science
Foundation Undergraduate Research
Fellowship in 1970, 1971.She was assigned to
the Operations Planning Branch to work on
the procedures and training issues in support
of the International Space Station. She served
as the Branch Chief of the Operations Planning
Branch from June 1997-June 1998.She
graduated from UCLA cum laude and with
honors in chemistry. Recipient of: NASA Space
Flight Medal; Lloyd’s of London Silver Medal
for Meritorious Salvage Operations; Mother of
the Year Award 1984; UCLA Professional
Achievement Award, UCLA Medical
Professional Achievement Award. NASA
Exceptional Service Medal, 1999. she was
honored by all

15. TAMARA ELIZABETH JERNIGAN
Tamara Elizabeth "Tammy" Jernigan, Ph.D.
(born May 7, 1959, in Chattanooga,
Tennessee) is an American scientist and
former NASA astronaut and a veteran of five
shuttle missions. Jernigan attended Santa Fe
High School in Santa Fe Springs, CA. She
graduated in 1977. Jernigan attended Stanford
University, where she earned a B.S. degree in
physics in 1981, an M.S. in engineering science
in 1983. At the University of California,
Berkeley, she received an M.A. in astronomy in
1985.

16. In 1988 she was awarded a Ph.D. in space
physics and astronomy from Rice University.
She is the member of the American
Astronomical Association, the American
Physical Society, and the United States
Volleyball Association.