- Svetlana Savitskaya
Infobox Astronaut
name =Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya
type = Cosmonaut
nationality =Soviet /Russia n
date_birth =birth date and age|1948|08|08
place_birth =Moscow ,Russia
occupation =Flight engineer
selection =1980 (Female Group 2)
time =19d 17h 06m
mission =Soyuz T-7 ,Salyut 7 ,Soyuz T-5 ,Soyuz T-12
insignia =|Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya ( _ru. Светла́на Евге́ньевна Сави́цкая; born
August 8 ,1948 , inMoscow ,Russian SFSR ) is a former Soviet female aviator and cosmonaut who flew theSoyuz T-7 in1982 , becoming the second woman in space some 19 years afterValentina Tereshkova . She is the daughter of a Soviet military commanderYevgeniy Savitskiy .She started training as a cosmonaut in 1980.
While on
Salyut 7 space station, Savitskaya became the first woman ever to perform a space walk (onJuly 25 ,1984 ). She was outside the space station for 3 hours 35 minutes.Upon returning to Earth, Savitskaya was assigned as a commander of an all-female Soyuz crew to Salyut 7 in commemoration of the
International Women's Day , a mission that was later canceled.She was twice awarded the
Hero of the Soviet Union title. The asteroid4118 Sveta is named for her.She was also a test and sports pilot - starting from 1974 she set 18 international world records on
MiG aircraft and three records in team parachute jumping. She also won the first place at the 6th FAI World Aerobatic Championship in 1970.Savitskaya has retired in 1993 in the rank of Major of Russian Air Force.
She is a member of the
State Duma representing theCommunist Party of the Russian Federation .External links and references
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/cosmonauts/english/savitskaya_svetlana.htm Space mission details]
* [http://great.russian-women.net/Svetlana_Savitskaya.shtml Brief biography with photo of her space-walk]
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