Irina Solovyova facts for kids

Irina Solovyova (born September 6, 1937) is a retired cosmonaut from the Soviet Union. She was active from 1962 to 1969. Irina was born in Kireyevsk, Tula, Russia. She is famous for being one of five women chosen for the Soviet Union's special all-female space team.

Irina Solovyova became well-known during the Cold War. This was a time of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. In 1961, Nikolai Kamanin had the idea to send the first woman into space. He convinced Sergey Korolev, a top Soviet rocket engineer, to think about it. About six months later, they agreed to find five female cosmonauts. More than 800 women applied for this amazing chance! Only 58 were seriously considered. After that, 23 women, including Irina, were chosen for special medical checks in Moscow. Irina was 24 years old when Soviet leaders offered her a spot on the space team.

When Irina accepted the offer, she began her training in Star City. This place in the Soviet Union has been home to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center since the 1960s. The five women who trained there were Irina Solovyova, Zhanna Yorkina, Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Ponomareva, and Valentina Tereshkova.

Valentina Tereshkova was eventually chosen to fly the first mission. Irina Solovyova became her backup. Valentina Tereshkova spent three days in space aboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft. She then successfully parachuted back to Earth. Tereshkova later received the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards. These were the highest honors in the Soviet Union. Even though Irina was mainly a backup, she played a very important part in the start of women exploring space.

Before becoming a cosmonaut, Irina Solovyova was an engineer with a science degree. She graduated from the Sverdlovsk Polytechnic Institute. Irina was also a member of the national skydiving team. Her fiancé at the time, Sergey Kiselev, was a skydiving instructor.

Irina Solovyova was also considered to be the first woman to walk in space. However, Svetlana Savitskaya was chosen for that historic spacewalk instead. Before she became a cosmonaut, Irina was a world champion parachutist for the Soviet Union.

She received the Belarusian Order For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces, 3rd class.

Irina Solovyova is married to Sergei A. Kiselyov. They have two children named Aleksei and Yelena.

Education and Training

Irina Solovyova was a trained civilian cosmonaut. She also became a retired Colonel in the Soviet Air Force.

• 1959: Graduated from Sverdlovsk Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering.
• 1962: Completed cosmonaut training from April to November. She trained alongside Kuznetsova and Tereshkova.
• 1967: Graduated from Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy, Monino.
• 1980: Earned a degree in psychological sciences.
• 1988: Became a member of an all-female Antarctic Expedition in February.

Choosing Female Cosmonauts

In January 1962, a group called DOSAAF sent a list of 58 female cosmonaut candidates. These women were pilots and parachutists. Out of these, 40 were interviewed for training at the TsPK. This training center would prepare the team for the Flight: Vostok 6. Before Irina Solovyova was contacted, she was a 24-year-old engineer in Ural. She had a science degree and was part of a skydiving team.

Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin reviewed the plans for the training center. When Kamanin and his team interviewed the candidates, there were 23 women from the original 58. He was looking for young, fit women who had already done flight and parachute training for at least five or six months. Since there weren't many female pilots in the Soviet Union, they also looked for active sport parachutists.

The First Female Cosmonaut Group

A special group was chosen for the Vostok 6 space program. They had to meet certain requirements:

• Under 30 years old.
• Under 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) tall.
• Under 70 kg (150 lb) in weight.

The five Soviet women chosen were: Kuznetsova, Ponomaryova, Solovyova, Tereshkova, and Yorkina. They were selected on February 16, 1962, and started training a month later. However, the idea of a woman flying in space didn't have much support from Chief Designer Korolev or Kamanin's military leaders.

Cosmonaut Training

The five female cosmonauts went through a full training program. This included:

• Weightless flights.
• Parachute jumps.
• Isolation tests.
• Centrifuge tests (spinning fast to feel G-forces).
• Studying rocket theory and spacecraft engineering.

The women completed 120 parachute jumps. They also learned to fly in MiG-15UTI jet trainers.

In May 1962, a Soviet group, including cosmonaut Gherman Titov and Kamanin, visited Washington. They met astronaut John Glenn. They learned about the Mercury 13, a private program where 13 American women were chosen by NASA. These female pilots had passed the astronaut physical tests. They were trying to get trained as Mercury astronauts. Kamanin learned from Glenn that the first American woman might make a three-orbit Mercury flight by the end of 1962. Seeing this competition, Kamanin decided to speed up the first flight of a Soviet woman.

At the start of the training, Kamanin thought Irina Solovyova was the most likely to be the first woman in space.

Plans for Future Space Missions

Irina Solovyova was also part of plans for another space mission in 1965. Kamanin suggested new missions for the Voskhod system in April of that year. Ponomaryova and Solovyova were proposed for an all-female spacewalk mission. Ponomaryova would be the pilot, and Solovyova would be the one to walk in space. The female cosmonauts were told about this possible mission. But Kamanin warned them that there might be strong opposition. He was right.

The U.S. Gemini program had just announced a mission that would last 7 to 8 days. To try and keep their lead in spaceflight, the Soviets changed their plans. Because of this, the Ponomaryova-Solovyova spacewalk mission never happened.

See also

In Spanish: Irina Solovyova para niños