posted March 26, 2005 01:17 AM               

It will include lots of information from Russian language sources, which I don't believe has been published in English before.

One aspect which I need to cover though, which I am struggling with regards the reaction to her flight in the US.

Are there any older 'posters' out there with personal recollections or copies of contemporary press coverage they could share?

What I'm trying to pin down is how the American press and people reacted to a Soviet woman in space - indifference, disbelief, horror. Also, how they saw Tereshkova herself - courageous heroine, unfortunate pawn of a rival political regime or what ?

posted March 27, 2005 11:23 PM               

I do have Aviation Week & Space Technology and Life Magazine articles with quotes from US astronauts, senators, etc.

posted March 28, 2005 02:00 AM               

Yes, please do send me what you have.

You obviously didn't get my last couple of mails to your new address - I have some new stuff for you, so please drop me a note and we'll catch up.

posted April 17, 2005 03:33 AM               

When I began researching this subject several years ago, I quickly gained the impression that the flight of a woman cosmonaut on Vostok VI had caught the rest of the world, and especially America by complete surprise.
However, having studied contemporary press reports, it’s clear that this wasn’t the case, and the Soviets had leaked information over the previous six months or so, to prepare the world for what they were planning.

On 13th January 1963, while attending celebrations to mark the anniversary of the revolution in Cuba, cosmonaut Pavel Popovich remarked, ’The world will soon know about the first female cosmonaut.’ And it seems this comment was widely reported.

A couple of months later on 21st March, UPI in Moscow mentioned in a dispatch about Soviets space plans in general, ‘There have been rumours in Moscow that a woman is being trained as a cosmonaut.’

In reports of the return to earth of American Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper, in May 1963, several US papers suggested that ‘the Soviets are believed to be planning a new space spectacular, probably involving the launching of a woman into space.’

By early June, speculation mounted further and on 12th, the New York Times reported another UPI dispatch under the headline ‘Soviets reported ready to put woman into space’, and the following day, the Washington Post added detail with ‘The Soviet Union was reported tonight to be on the verge of launching into space the first woman astronaut – said to be an attractive unmarried woman in her 20’s……………..at least two and possibly three girls are believed to be trained for a space trip. It was not clear whether two would be put up together, as some reports have suggested.’

After the launch of Vostok V on 14th June, the speculation reaches it’s peak, and all the major news agencies and newspapers have their own version of what would happen next.
Recording Bykovsky’s launch, the Washington Post reports ‘Reliable sources have confirmed that the cosmonette – an attractive unmarried pilot in her early twenties - is standing by, ready for launch.’

UPI’s Geneva office were even more certain :- ‘The Soviet Union will definitely send a young woman into space tomorrow, Communist sources said tonight. Everyone in Moscow knows that the launching of a Soviet woman into the Cosmos is imminent.’

Associated Press had more detail in their release :-
‘While the Soviet Union's fifth cosmonaut circled the earth Friday night, unofficial Moscow sources said a woman would follow him into space Saturday, or later. Both Soviet and sources from other Communist countries said a girl named Ludmilla, 25, moderately pretty, was ready to take off from a launching pad in central Siberia.
There was no official confirmation, but the reports said the Moscow newspapers already had biographical sketches of Ludmilla ready for use either Saturday or later in the course of Bykovsky's flight.’

The following day, the Washington Post recycled the story, adding their own speculation on who the woman might be explaining that ‘… a dozen names different were circulating in Moscow, ranging from Ludmilla to Solovyeva……’ Obviously, this is interesting, because Solovyeva was very nearly correct, although her name did not reappear until 25 years later.

The following day, Tereshkova was launched, and the real story could be reported.

posted August 17, 2005 03:59 PM               

I'm now putting the finishing touches to the photographs to accompany each part. Whilst I have some unusual ones which have not been widely seen before, I would welcome any additions.

If anyone has any rare or unusual photos which they would like to share with the 'Spaceflight' readership, please e-mail me off group at :-

tonyq@another.com

Ofcourse, full credit will be given.

Thanks

posted September 05, 2005 07:45 AM               

The manual control question has long been the source of myths and speculation. I have looked at the question with Tony and the best we can reconstruct the events is :
1)There were attempts at manual control early in the flight that were not successful for unknown reasons.
2)On the 45th Orbit manual orientation for retrofire was completed for about 20 minutes, although the during retrofire on Orbit 48 over Madagascar was automatic. (As it was on all 6 Vostok flights).

We welcome you to our group ! One of the fun things is that as you collect it inspires revisiting the historical record which in the case of early cosmonautics has been somewhat distrorted and stated as historical fact to this day. That's one of the reasons Tony wrote the article

PS) Sadly, she came close to flying again during the Salyut-6/7 era, as did Tatiana Kuznetsova from the early group, but circumstances mostly politically based changed that. They had a whole new group in training, and Svetlana Savitskaya took center stage.

posted January 24, 2006 05:24 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by heng44:
Just finished reading part 2. A very nice article, Tony. Well done!

Ed

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Ed

Many thanks for the kind remarks. I'm very pleased you enjoyed it. I tried to make it a good read, and not just a technical piece.

I am now working with Kyra to discover more details of the flight itself, and to hopefully clarify once and for all the rumours about Valentina's performance.

The information is out there, but the people who hold it are not getting any younger, and there is a danger the truth will eventually be lost forever.

Tony