June 16, 1963. Under the call name “Chaika” (Seagull), Valentina Tereshkova launched solo aboard Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963 to become the first woman in space. Part of her mission was to compare how the female body reacted in space to data collected in two years of male-only missions. She spent nearly 71 hours in space, orbiting the Earth 48 times.