10 Female Astronauts Who Made Space Travel History

The first female-only spacewalk has already become a reality. It was in October 2019. But in addition, by 2024, NASA plans to get humans back on the Moon. This expedition, already named Artemis (in homage to the Greek goddess of the Moon), and which has everything to be historical will have at least one woman.

To celebrate this great news, the awesome.club wants to remember other courageous astronauts who laid the foundations for the female conquest of Space.

The American joined NASA in 1978, after responding to a newspaper ad requesting personnel for a space program. Her job was as a cabin communicator and she was the first woman to crew a space shuttle, the Challenger. In addition, she deployed 2 communication satellites and founded the Exploration Office. Sally, who died in 2012 at age 61, was also the first American to go into space.

She was the first woman to travel into space, in 1963. Before becoming a cosmonaut (as Russians call astronauts), an engineer and military paratrooper, she worked in a textile industry. She was part of the Soviet space program, without belonging to the Air Force. The crater Tereshkova is named after her and is located on the far side of the Moon. Today, she is 82 years old.

Ellen was born in Los Angeles, USA, although she also has Mexican nationality. She was selected in 1990 by NASA and, 3 years later, made her first trip, becoming the first Hispanic woman to travel to space. She participated in 4 expeditions, some of them for solar and atmospheric studies.

From an early age, Mae showed a clear inclination towards the world of science, which led her to study Medicine and Chemistry. In 1987, she became the first African-American woman to join NASA’s training program, and in 1992, she made her first space trip. After her service as an astronaut, she developed a satellite telecommunications system to help improve medical care in developing countries.

In 1989, Helen became the first British astronaut, but before traveling to space, she worked as an engineer at General Electric. She was also part of the old Juno project for the Soviet Union, which, because it did not raise enough funds, was on the verge of being cancelled. She carried out medical and agricultural tests on the Soyuz TM-12 mission and also participated in a radio project in British schools. Currently, she is dedicated to sharing science with children.

Resnik was chosen to train at NASA in 1978, to crew the first Space Shuttle Discovery mission in 1984, which lasted 7 days. She participated in a photographic experiment with cameras containing IMAX film, a format capable of capturing images of Space that are much larger in size and resolution. Judith died in 1986, aged 36, in the Challenger explosion, one of the most shocking accidents in NASA’s space shuttle program.

This Japanese astronaut, the first in history, graduated in Medicine and specialized in cardiovascular surgery. It started collaborating with NASA in 1985, despite belonging to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Chiaki spent 28 days in space on the Space Shuttles Columbia and Discovery. She has received awards such as the National Order of the Legion of Honor in 2015 and the Princess of Asturias Award in 1999.

Eileen was a United States Air Force test pilot and the first female commander of a space shuttle. She was selected in 1990 and participated in two missions as a pilot and in two others as commander, after the Space Shuttle Columbia accident, thus completing more than 800 hours in orbit.

Scientist, astronaut and politician, Claudie was part of the European Space Agency and was the first European to go into space. She was born in France and became commander of the Legion of Honor. She was recognized by Russian President Dmitri Medvedev with the Medal of Merit for Space Exploration. In 2009, she became a founding director of Universcience, an independent science outreach organization.

Kalpana is considered a national hero in her native India. She was a doctor and an astronaut, being selected by NASA in 1994. She devoted herself to the development of robotic information systems and, in 1996, collaborated with NASA as a mission specialist. She participated in 2 spaceflights aboard the space shuttle Columbia, dedicated to scientific research. She died in the unfortunate explosion of the space shuttle in 2003, an accident that also took the lives of 6 other astronauts.

Christina has a Master’s in Electrical Engineering and Jessica has a Master’s in Space Science. They starred in the already mentioned first spacewalk carried out only by women. It was on the 18th of October, on the International Space Station and the mission was to replace a battery charging and discharging unit that stopped working.

Ever wondered what it would be like to travel to space? What skills do you think are needed to be part of an astronaut team? Leave your opinion in the comments section.