Valentina Tereshkova Calls Mars Her 'Favorite Planet'

It was 50 years ago on June 16th that Valentina Tereshkova become the first woman to fly in space, and now the 76-year-old Russian says she's ready to go back ... on a one-way trip to Mars.

Tereshkova was 26 when she first flew in space in 1963. The French news service AFP reports that during a news conference in Zvyozkny Gorodok (Star City) near Moscow, she said Mars "is my favorite planet," and that she has been part of a group studying the possibility of going to the red planet. "Most likely, the flight will be one-way," she said, "but I am ready."

Tereshkova made 48 orbits of the Earth on her flight in 1963, using the call sign "Chaika" (Seagull). Her flight was a major propaganda coup for the then-Soviet Union. She had received only an honorary induction into the Soviet Air Force, which made her the first civilian to fly in space.

Tereshkova flew aboard Vostok 6, the final flight of the Vostok program. She launched only two says after Vostok 5, which carried Valery Bykovsky into a similar orbit, and the two spacecraft closed to within about three miles of each other at one point during the mission.

(Vostok spacecraft image from file)

FMI: http://www.roscosmos.ru/#main.php?lang=en