For other uses, see Women in space (disambiguation).
A record four women simultaneously in space aboard the International Space Station in 2010 (Expedition 23 and STS-131).[1] Clockwise from lower left: Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Naoko Yamazaki, and Stephanie Wilson
Women have flown and worked in outer space since almost the beginning of human spaceflight. A considerable number of women from a range of countries have worked in space, though overall women are still significantly less often chosen to go to space than men, and by June, 2020 constitute only 12% of all astronauts who have been to space.[2] Yet, the proportion of women among space travelers is increasing substantially over time.[3]
The first woman to fly in space was Soviet Valentina Tereshkova, aboard the Vostok 6 space capsule on June 16–19, 1963. Tereshkova was a textile-factory assembly worker, rather than a pilot like the male cosmonauts flying at the time, chosen for propaganda value, her devotion to the Communist Party, and her years of experience in sport parachuting, which she used on landing after ejecting from her capsule.[4] Women were not qualified as space pilots and workers co-equal to their male counterparts until 1982. By October 2021, most of the 70 women who have been to space have been United States citizens, with missions on the Space Shuttle and on the International Space Station. Other countries (USSR, Canada, Japan, Russia, China, United Kingdom, France, South Korea, Italy) have flown one, two or three women in human spaceflight programs. Additionally one woman of dual Iranian-US citizenship has participated as a tourist on a US spaceflight.
Women face many of the same physical and psychological difficulties of spaceflight as men. Scientific studies generally show no particular adverse effect from short space missions. It has even been suggested by some that women might be better suited for longer space missions.[5] Studies have continually indicated that the main obstacle for women to go to space remains gender discrimination.[6][7]
^"Four Women will Fly in Space for the First Time in the History". Russian Federal Space Agency. 3 April 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
^Alice Gorman (June 16, 2020). "Almost 90% of astronauts have been men. But the future of space may be female". Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^Duggirala S, Aboudja H, Batthula VJ, Howell M, Segall RS, Tsai P-H, Berleant D (2022). "Women in Space: From Historical Trend to Future Forecasts". Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science. 102: 124–131.
^"Valentina Tereshkova". starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
^"Here's why women may be the best suited for spaceflight". National Geographic. June 13, 2019. Archived from the original on March 1, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
^Davenport, Christian (December 8, 2019). "At Nasa, women are still facing outdated workplace sexism". The Independent. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
^Cite error: The named reference TASS 2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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