Svetlana Savitskaya

On July 25, 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya (August 8, 1948 - ), soviet cosmonaut, walked in space – the first woman ever to do so. She was the second woman in space, the first having been another soviet woman named Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova.

Unlike Valentina Tereshkova, who had been a textile worker and amateur parachutist before being recruited as a cosmonaut, Savitskaya was a pilot who set world records in supersonic and turboprop aircraft. She set a record skydiving when she was only 17, falling 14km before opening her parachute at about 500 meters.

As we say goodbye to Awesome Woman Sally Ride, I just felt like it was also important to acknowledge that, like all of us, she was an Awesome Woman among Awesome Women.

http://great.russian-women.net/Svetlana_Savitskaya.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova