Zhanna Yorkina facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Zhanna Dmitriyevna Yorkina
Native name	Жанна Дмитриевна Ёркина
Born	6 May 1939 Soltsy, Novgorod Oblast, USSR
Died	25 May 2015 (aged 76) Zvyozdny gorodok, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation

Zhanna Dmitriyevna Yorkina (Russian: Жанна Дмитриевна Ёркина; 6 May 1939 – 25 May 2015) was a Soviet Cosmonaut. She was one of the first women chosen to train as a cosmonaut for the Soviet space program.

Early Life and Cosmonaut Selection

Zhanna Yorkina was born in Soltsy, a town in the Novgorod Oblast region of the USSR. She studied English and graduated from the Pedagogic Institute in Ryazan. She could also speak German and French, which was very helpful for her future career.

In December 1961, the Soviet government decided to train female cosmonauts. Their goal was to make sure the first woman in space would be from the Soviet Union. In February 1962, Zhanna was chosen as one of five women for this special training. She officially became a cosmonaut on March 4, 1962.

From Teacher to Space Trainee

Before becoming a cosmonaut, Zhanna Yorkina worked as a high school language teacher. She was also a keen parachutist at a club in Ryazan. Her love for parachuting helped her become a strong candidate for the space program.

When she was 22, the Soviet government asked her to take a test. They told her she would get to jump from a ship. Later, she found out it was actually a spaceship! Being a skilled parachutist was important because early Soviet spacecraft required cosmonauts to eject and land separately with a parachute.

Intense Training for Space

To join the space program, female candidates had to be under 30 years old. They also needed to be shorter than 5 feet 7 inches and weigh less than 154 pounds. Zhanna and the other four women went through very tough training. They had only six months to get ready because the USSR wanted to be first.

Their training included classes in astronomy and aeronautics. They also did a lot of physical exercises like swimming and gymnastics. One of the hardest parts was centrifuge training. Zhanna said it was difficult to stay conscious. They had to hold a remote control to show they were awake. If they dropped it, it meant they had passed out. They also trained in a heat chamber, where temperatures reached 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

Space Missions and Challenges

In 1963, Zhanna married Valery Sergeychik. They had two children, Valery and Svetlana.

The First Woman in Space

The honor of being the first woman in space went to Valentina Tereshkova. She orbited Earth in June 1963 aboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft. Zhanna Yorkina faced a setback when she injured her ankle during a parachuting accident. This made her miss some training.

She also struggled in the Vostok simulator. In April 1963, all four female cosmonauts completed a three-day simulation. While everyone passed, Zhanna was considered the least ready for spaceflight. She ate very little of her food and even took off her boots. This led to her fainting shortly after the test.

Later Space Program Work

After the Vostok 6 flight, Zhanna Yorkina worked on the Voskhod 2 mission in 1965. This mission was famous for the first spacewalk in history. After this, she was named as a backup commander for Voskhod 4. This was planned as a 20-day mission to study how long-term weightlessness affected humans. However, the mission was cancelled in 1966.

Zhanna then trained for the Soyuz program. She was considered one of the less capable female cosmonauts. One official even joked that she was "too fond of chocolate and cakes." She was part of plans for a future all-female mission called Vostok 5, but only as a secondary backup.

Cancelled Missions

Another challenge for the all-female mission was that the company making space suits could not create special suits for women. This caused more delays. After the death of Sergei Korolev, a key figure in the space program, many plans changed.

Originally, the Vostok 5 and 6 flights were meant to be dual flights. Two ships would launch one day apart and stay in space for about three days. Zhanna Yorkina and Valentina Ponomaryova were chosen for the Vostok 6A flight. However, this dual flight idea was rejected in March 1963. Eventually, the Vostok program only had single flights, and Valentina Tereshkova was the only woman who flew.

Retirement and Legacy

After the Voskhod Program was cancelled, Zhanna Yorkina worked at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. She helped develop the Spiral spaceplane.

She retired from the space program on October 1, 1969. She left active military duty in 1989, holding the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.