On June 16, 1963, Valentina Tereshkova, 26, began a three-day orbital voyage, becoming the first woman to break the shackles of the earth. Tereshkova returned to a hero's welcome in Moscow, including kisses from a beaming Premier Nikita Khrushchev, who held her up to the world as the symbol of the new Soviet woman.
Attractive and svelte at age 46, Tereshkova today is divorced from the fellow cosmonaut she married after the flight. She remains a popular public figure and has taken on such ceremonial chores as addressing a huge peace rally in Moscow's Olympic stadium last month. But if Tereshkova's mission...