Women in space

This article addresses the subject of women traveling above the Kármán line. This includes orbiting in the thermosphere through to travel in outer space. However, as of December 2016, no woman has traveled beyond low earth orbit.

Women of many nationalities have worked in space. The first woman in space, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, flew in 1963. Space programs were slow to employ women, and only began to include them from the 1980s. Most women in space have been United States citizens, primarily with missions on the Space Shuttle. Three countries maintain active space programs that include women: China, Russia, and the United States of America. In addition, a number of other countries – Canada, France, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom – have sent women into orbit or space on Russian or US missions.

Women in space face many of the same challenges faced by men: physical difficulties from non-Earth conditions and psychological stresses of isolation and separation. Scientific studies on female amphibians and non-human mammals generally show no adverse effect from short space missions, although the effect of extended space travel on female reproduction is not known.

A number of women have traveled into space. Although the first woman flew into space in 1963, very early in crewed space exploration, it would not be until almost 20 years later that another flew.

The first woman in space was a Soviet cosmonaut. Valentina Tereshkova launched with the Vostok 6 mission on June 16, 1963. The first woman to walk in space was also a cosmonaut: Svetlana Savitskaya was on her second mission when she spaced-walked on July 17, 1984 as part of Salyut 7-EP2

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