Svetlana Savitskaya facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Svetlana Savitskaya MP
Светлана Савицкая
Savitskaya in 2018
Member of the State Duma (Party List Seat)
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 December 2003
Member of the State Duma for Moscow Oblast
In office 17 January 1996 – 29 December 2003
Preceded by	constituency established
Succeeded by	Dmitry Sablin
Constituency	Sergiyev Posad (No. 113)
Personal details
Born	(1948-08-08) 8 August 1948 (age 76) Moscow, RSFSR, USSR
Political party	CPRF (from 1993) CPSU (until 1991)
Spouse	Viktor Khatkovsky
Children	1
Parents	Yevgeny Savitsky (father) Lydia Savitskaya (mother)
Education	Central United Flight Technical School Moscow Aviation Institute Flight Research Institute of the Ministry of Aviation Industry Moscow Higher Technical School (DPhil)
Occupation	flight engineer aviator flight instructor politician
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union (2)
Signature
Space career
Cosmonaut (retired)
Rank	Major
Time in space	19 days 17 hours 6 minutes
Selection	1980 (Female Group 2)
Total EVAs	1
Total EVA time	3 hours 35 minutes
Missions	Soyuz T-7/Soyuz T-5 (Salyut 7 - EP2) Soyuz T-12 (Salyut 7 - EP4)
Mission insignia

Svetlana Savitskaya on Soyuz T-12, and her spacewalk

Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya (Russian: Светла́на Евге́ньевна Сави́цкая; born August 8, 1948) is a Russian aviator and former Soviet cosmonaut. She made history by flying aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982. This made her the second woman ever to travel into space.

In 1984, on her Soyuz T-12 mission, she became the first woman to fly to space twice. She also achieved another first: she was the first woman to perform a spacewalk. Svetlana Savitskaya also set several world records as a pilot, recognized by the FAI.

Early Life and Flying Adventures

Svetlana Savitskaya grew up in a special family. Her father, Yevgeny Savitsky, was a famous fighter pilot during World War II. He later became a high-ranking officer in the Soviet Air Defense. Her mother was a local leader in Moscow.

When she was 16, Svetlana secretly started parachuting. Her father found out when he saw a parachute knife in her school bag. Instead of being upset, he encouraged her! By her 17th birthday, she had already made 450 parachute jumps.

Over the next year, she set records for very high jumps, called stratosphere jumps. These jumps were from 13,800 meters (about 8.5 miles) and 14,250 meters (about 8.8 miles) high. Throughout her flying career, she set three world records for stratosphere jumps. She also set 15 world records for jumps from jet planes.

After finishing school in 1966, she went to the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI). There, she also took flying lessons. In 1971, she became a licensed flight instructor. After graduating from MAI in 1972, she trained to be a test pilot. She finished this training in 1976.

In 1978, she started working for the aircraft company Yakovlev as a test pilot. She became the first woman to fly a MiG-25 aircraft at an amazing speed of 2,683 kilometers per hour (about 1,667 mph). Svetlana was known for being very serious and skilled in her work.

Between 1969 and 1977, she was part of the Soviet national team for aerobatics. This is a type of flying that involves stunts. In 1970, she won a world championship with an all-female team in the United Kingdom. A journalist there called her "Miss Sensation."

Becoming a Cosmonaut

Svetlana Savitskaya on a 1983 postage stamp

In 1979, Svetlana applied to join the second group of female cosmonauts. A cosmonaut is like an astronaut, someone who travels to space. On June 30, 1980, she was officially chosen for the cosmonaut team. Out of nine women selected, Svetlana was the only test pilot. This meant she had a lot of flying experience. She passed her final exams on February 24, 1982.

First Trip to Space: Soyuz T-7

In December 1981, Svetlana began getting ready for her first space flight. This was a short trip to the Salyut 7 space station. Her role was a research cosmonaut. The goal of this mission was to show the world that the Soviet Union was a leader in space travel. It also aimed to replace a spacecraft at the station.

The commander of her mission was Leonid Popov. The flight engineer was Aleksandr Serebrov.

The Soyuz T-7 spacecraft launched on August 19, 1982. With this flight, Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman in space. The first was Valentina Tereshkova, 19 years earlier. During the journey, Svetlana said she had to tie herself down. This was to stop her from floating into other parts of the spacecraft because there was no gravity.

The three cosmonauts arrived at the space station the next day. They were greeted by Anatoly Berezovoy and Valentin Lebedev. This was the first time a space station had a crew with both men and women. Svetlana had a private area in the Soyuz T-7 module. However, she slept in the main part of the station like the men. On August 27, 1982, Svetlana, Popov, and Serebrov returned to Earth in the Soyuz T-5 spacecraft. Their mission lasted 7 days, 21 hours, and 52 minutes.

Second Trip to Space: Soyuz T-12

In December 1983, Svetlana was chosen for her second space flight. This mission included an EVA, which means a spacewalk. This was announced shortly after American astronaut Kathy Sullivan was also assigned to an EVA. Svetlana was picked for this important task because of her vast flying experience and physical strength. These qualities were needed to work in a heavy space suit for many hours. She served as a flight engineer on this mission.

This was another short trip to the Salyut 7 station. The crew brought tools to the station. These tools were for the resident crew to fix a fuel line.

On July 17, 1984, Svetlana launched aboard Soyuz T-12. She flew with Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov and research cosmonaut Igor Volk. On July 25, 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya made history again. She became the first woman to perform a spacewalk! She spent 3 hours and 35 minutes outside the Salyut 7 space station. During her spacewalk, she worked with her colleague Vladimir Dzhanibekov. They tested a special tool that could cut, solder, weld, and braze metals in space. Svetlana performed six cuts on titanium and stainless steel. She also did two coatings of aluminum and six tests of tin and lead solder.

As of April 2020, Svetlana is still the only Soviet or Russian woman to have walked in space. The crew returned to Earth on July 29, 1984. Their mission lasted 11 days, 19 hours, and 14 minutes.

A Possible Third Spaceflight

After her second space mission, Svetlana was considered to command an all-female Soyuz crew. This mission would have gone to Salyut 7 to celebrate International Women's Day. She was the most experienced female cosmonaut still working at that time. She was set to lead two younger female cosmonauts, Yekaterina Ivanova and Yelena Dobrokvashina.

However, in February 1985, contact with Salyut 7 was lost. The space station was later fixed by another mission. Then, another mission had to be stopped in November 1985 because the commander got sick. Because of these issues, the all-female flight was eventually canceled. Also, there weren't enough Soyuz spacecraft available. Later, there was a plan to fly to the Mir space station. But this plan was also put on hold because Svetlana became pregnant and had her son in 1986.

Life After Space

Svetlana Savitskaya is married and has one son, Konstantin, who was born on November 7, 1986. In February 1986, she graduated from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. From 1983 to 1994, she worked as a Deputy Head at NPO Energia, a major space company.

Svetlana was a strong supporter of the Communist Party. She was elected as a people's deputy of the USSR in 1989. She also became a people's deputy of Russia in 1990. She held this position until 1992. She was sad when the Soviet Union broke apart.

In 1993, Svetlana retired from the Russian Air Force as a Major. From 1994 to 1995, she worked as a professor at the Moscow State Aviation Institute. In 1996, she was elected as a member of the State Duma. This is like the Russian parliament. She has been re-elected four times since then. She currently serves as the Deputy Chair of the Committee on Defence.

FAI World Records

Svetlana Savitskaya set many world records recognized by the FAI. Here are some of her achievements:

Awards and Recognition

Svetlana Savitskaya has received many important awards for her achievements:

• Hero of the Soviet Union, twice (1982, 1984) – This is one of the highest honors in the Soviet Union.
• Orders of Lenin, twice (1982, 1984) – Another very high Soviet award.
• Order of the Badge of Honour (1976)
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (April 12, 2011) – For her great work in space research and exploration.
• Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR – A special title for Soviet cosmonauts.
• Honoured Master of Sports
• Gold Medal and 18 degrees FAI
• 16 gold medals, sports of the USSR
• Special medal for the women's world record stay in space
• Honorary Citizen of Baikonur (1982) – Baikonur is where many space launches happen.

Svetlana Savitskaya was one of five cosmonauts chosen to raise the Russian flag at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The asteroid 4118 Sveta is named after her.

See also

In Spanish: Svetlana Savítskaya para niños

• List of female spacefarers
• List of female Heroes of the Soviet Union