Svetlana Savitskaya

Svetlana Savitskaya
Cosmonaut
Nationality	Soviet / Russian
Born	(1948-08-08) August 8, 1948 Moscow, Soviet Union
Other names	Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya
Other occupation	Flight engineer
Time in space	19 days 17 hours 06 minutes
Selection	1980 (Female Group 2)
Total EVAs	1
Total EVA time	3 hours 35 minutes
Missions	Salyut 7-EP2 (Soyuz T-7 up, Soyuz T-5 down), Salyut 7-EP4 (Soyuz T-12)
Mission insignia	40px
Awards

Savitskaya on Soyuz T-12, and her spacewalk

Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya (Russian: Светла́на Евге́ньевна Сави́цкая; born August 8, 1948) is a former Soviet aviator and cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space. On her 1984 mission she became the first woman to fly to space twice, and the first woman to perform a spacewalk.

Biography

Daughter of Soviet military commander Yevgeniy Savitskiy, Svetlana started her aerospace career as a test and sports pilot. Starting from 1974 she set 18 international world records on MiG aircraft and three records in team parachute jumping. She won first place at the 6th FAI World Aerobatic Championship in 1970. She started training as a cosmonaut in 1980.

In 1982, Savitskaya flew to space as part of the Soyuz T-7 mission, alongside Leonid Popov and Aleksandr Serebrov, becoming the second woman to fly to space, some 19 years after Valentina Tereshkova. On her second spaceflight, on July 25, 1984 she also became the first woman to perform a space walk. She conducted an EVA outside the Salyut 7 space station for 3 hours 35 minutes during which she cut and welded metals in space along with her colleague Vladimir Dzhanibekov. Of the 57 Soviet/Russian spacewalkers through 2010, she is the only female.

Upon returning to Earth, Savitskaya was assigned as the commander of an all-female Soyuz crew to Salyut 7 in commemoration of the International Women's Day, a mission that was later canceled. She was twice awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title. The asteroid 4118 Sveta is named for her.

Savitskaya is married, with one child, a son born 1986.

Savitskaya retired in 1993 from the Russian Air Force with the rank of Major. In 1996, she was elected a member of the State Duma representing the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and was re-elected four times since then. She presently serves as Deputy Chair of the Committee on Defense, and is also a member of the Coordination council presidium of the National Patriotic Union.

Honours and awards

• Hero of the Soviet Union, twice (1982, 1984)
• Orders of Lenin, twice (1982, 1984)
• Order of the Badge of Honour (1976)
• Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (12 April 2011) - for great achievements in the field of research, development and utilization of outer space, many years of honest work, public activities
• Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR
• 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

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

See also

• List of female astronauts
• The official website of the city administration Baikonur - Honorary citizens of Baikonur

External links

• Interview shortly before her 1995 election to the State Duma
• 2010 interview with The Voice of Russia radio website

• Role in Russian State Duma