“If women can be railroad workers in Russia, why can't they fly in space?”
— Valentina Tereshkova
Said during her 1963 interview after being selected for the Vostok 6 mission. She challenged the assumption that space exploration was exclusively for military men.
1962. I was a textile worker, not a pilot. They told me space was for men, for military officers, for the educated. I had no degree, no flying hours. But I jumped from airplanes for sport. I knew altitude, freefall, fear. When they opened selection to civilians, I applied. Nobody expected a factory girl to make it. I proved them wrong.