Valentina Vladimirovna Nikolayeva Tereshkova was born in 1937 in Russia. After school she worked as a textile worker. She pursued parachuting as a hobby.

She was recruited to the Soviet cosmonaut training program in 1961. Her historic flight in space aboard Vostok 6 occurred on June 16, 1963.

After the flight she married Andrian Nikolayev, a fellow astronaut. Their child was the first born to two parents who had both been exposed to the space environment.