Fifty years ago today, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova launched into space, becoming the first woman in space. It was her only mission.
The early Soviet human spaceflight program emphasized firsts-- first man, first woman, first two man crew, first three man crew-- to score political propaganda points. It came at a cost, however. By doing such missions for political reasons instead of focusing on the step-by-step development of spaceflight capability, the Soviets lost their lead in manned space sooner than they might have.
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