Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to go into space. She was born in 1937 in Russia and left school at age 16 to work in a textile factory. In 1963, she became the first woman to fly in space, orbiting the Earth 48 times over 70 hours. After returning, she married but later divorced and had one daughter. Tereshkova paved the way for women in the space program.