On June 16, 1963, a 26-year-old Russian woman named Valentina Tereshkova rocketed into orbit aboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft. She was not a pilot. She had worked in a textile factory since age 18. What caught the attention of the Soviet space program was her hobby: amateur skydiving. Tereshkova had made over 120 parachute jumps before she ever sat in a spacecraft. The Soviet Union wanted to beat the United States in the space race. Sending the first woman into space would be a powerful achievement. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev personally approved the mission. More than 400 women applied. Tereshkova was chosen from five finalists after months of intense training that included weightlessness tests, rocket theory, and isolation exercises. Her mission lasted almost three days. She orbited the Earth 48 times, traveling about 1.2 million miles. During the flight, she took photographs of the horizon that scientists later used to study the atmosphere. The reentry was rough. Tereshkova ejected from her capsule at 20,000 feet and parachuted to the ground, just as she had done dozens of times before. Her skydiving skills proved essential. After her flight, no other woman went to space for 19 years.