Before Sally Ride, a Soviet test pilot was already breaking records in orbit

History · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Svetlana Savitskaya was not just the second woman to reach space; she was a master aviator who shattered gender barriers in the sky. Long before her historic orbital missions, she was a world-class aerobatic champion and test pilot, eventually becoming the first woman to ever perform a spacewalk.

Born in 1948 to a decorated Soviet fighter pilot, Savitskaya cultivated an early, intense drive for aviation. By age 17, she had completed 450 parachute jumps and set stratospheric records. Her path to the stars was paved with rigorous technical training; she graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1972 and later qualified as a test pilot. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she possessed the rare experience of flying over 20 different aircraft types, including supersonic jets, before joining the cosmonaut program in 1980.

Savitskaya’s debut mission occurred in August 1982 aboard the Soyuz T-7, arriving at the Salyut 7 space station. This flight made her the second woman in history to enter space, trailing Valentina Tereshkova by nearly two decades. While her arrival marked the first time a space station hosted a mixed-gender crew, she was only just beginning her contributions to orbital engineering. Her selection for a second mission was driven by her exceptional physical stamina and technical proficiency, which were deemed essential for the demanding tasks ahead.

In July 1984, she launched on the Soyuz T-12 mission, securing her place in history as the first woman to fly into space twice and the first to conduct an extravehicular activity. During this three-and-a-half-hour spacewalk, she utilized a specialized tool to perform complex metal welding and cutting experiments on the station's exterior. This feat demonstrated that the rigors of space construction were well within her capabilities. Decades later, she remains the only Soviet or Russian woman to have ever performed a spacewalk, cementing her legacy as a singular figure in the history of human spaceflight.

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