August 14, 2017 - Glass Ceiling Breaks in Space

Glass Ceiling Breaks in Space  In 1962, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel in space, but the door to cosmic gender equity was slow in opening. Nearly twenty years passed before another woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, orbited Earth on an historic mission that began thirty-five years ago this week. During a later 1984 mission to the Salyut space station, Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space, and is still the only Soviet/Russian woman to do so. Worldwide, male astronauts still outnumber females, despite numerous examples of women who have the right stuff, like Nicole Stott, shown here, who was a Flight Engineer on the International Space Station in 2009. During her three months at the ISS, Stott took part in a six-hour construction and maintenance spacewalk.

Image credit: NASA

Weekly Calendar

August 14-20, 2017

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

 

Monday 14

Last Qtr Moon 9:15 PM ET

Tuesday 15

Wednesday 16

Aldebaran 0.4° south of Moon

1963: M2-F1 lifting body makes first glide flight after being towed aloft by a C-47

Thursday 17

1966: Pioneer 7 launched
1970: Venera 7 launched
2006: Voyager 1 is 100 AU from Earth

Friday 18

Moon at perigee

1868: Total solar eclipse leads to discovery of helium
1877: Asaph Hall discovers Phobos
1960: Discoverer XIV launched, first successful US photo reconnaissance satellite
1993: First DC-X flight
1999: Cassini spacecraft flies by Earth

Saturday 19

Venus 2° north of Moon

1646: John Flamsteed born
1891: Milton Humason born
1982: Soyuz T-7 launched, Svetlana Savitskaya is second woman in space

Sunday 20

1953: First Redstone rocket launched
1960: Sputnik 5 launched
1975: Viking 1 launched
1977: Voyager 2 launched