vladimir putin

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Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to travel into space, in Moscow on Friday. The meeting took place ahead of a ceremony to commemorate the 50th anniversary of her historic flight. During the meeting Tereshokova was decorated with the Order of Alexander Nevsky, a Russian order of merit, recognising her contribution to public service. This also includes her work as a Member of Parliament of Yaroslavl, her native province. Tereshkova remains one of history's relatively few female cosmonauts, as well as holding the honour of being the first non-military space traveller. During her three-day mission, which started on 16 June 1963, she performed various tests on herself to collect data on the female body's reaction to spaceflight. Even though there were plans for further flights by women, it took 19 years until the second woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, flew into space. The first female cosmonaut was "honoured to be one of the first who paved the way for humankind into space. Was it difficult? Yes, it was. Was it hard? Yes, it was hard indeed. But we were young and we managed to overcome all of it because we realised we were taking part in a historic effort for the nation. We worked with fantastic, outstanding scientists who trained us for our space experience. I am happy that throughout all of these 50 years -- I shudder when I mention this number -- I have served my homeland in good faith." Following her return to earth, Tereshkova was hailed as a national hero. A crater on the moon is named after Tereshkova, as is the minor planet 1671 Chaika, which commemorates Tereshkova's call sign.