Launching a big space mission that involves only one woman astronaut entails months of preparation to make sure that everything is in tiptop shape and that not a single valuable tool will be left behind. While the Russians prepared the spacecraft thoroughly for the mission of the first woman in space in the 1960s, they forgot to pack one thing for her - a toothbrush.
In an ongoing exhibition of Soviet spacecrafts and tools outside Russia, entitled "Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age," Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, shared her experiences during the mission, confirmed that she truly did not have a toothbrush during the three-day exploration, and that she had to used her fingers to clean her teeth. While it was a fact, she said that she was resourceful as any woman should be.
The 78-year-old cosmonaut embarked on a mission via Vostok-6 spacecraft on June 16, 1963, making her the first woman to ever be sent to the cosmos, twenty years before the first American woman astronaut, named Sally Ride, was sent to space.
"Hey sky, take off your hat! I'm coming to see you," she recalled herself shouting during the spacecraft's launching. In her mission, Tereshkova was able to orbit around the planet for 48 times.
Tereshkova also revealed that the engineers had performed some faulty configurations of the spacecraft for re-entry that she had to ask for ground control to fix the mistake. With this, the mission almost concluded with a mishap that rendered the toothbrush issue "nothing."
In the exhibition that started on Thursday, Sept. 17, Tereshkova gladly posed with the spacecraft that flew her to the outer space, which weighs about 2.6 tons. Tereshkova now looks at the spacecraft with love because it enabled her to work productively in space for three days.
The exhibition also features Soviet LK-3 lunar lander, which was created to fly a single cosmonaut to the moon but had stayed a secret until after 1989. Other items on display include space toilet, fridge, shower, dog ejector seat and some Soviet space posters.
"The exhibition demonstrates the essentiality and interest factor that space and ground people's works have on humanity," says Tereshkova. "The potentiality to think about the future collaboration of experts and young scientists who would want to fly to space are all created through this exhibition."
The contribution of Russia to space exploration cannot go unnoticed as it is a good example of human ambition. Through this exhibition, cultural doors are remained open and mutual respect for diverse history and culture are shown.
Photo: RIA Novosti archive, image #612748 / Alexander Mokletsov | Wikimedia Commons
