Svetlana Yevgenyevna Savitskaya is a Russian former aviator and Soviet cosmonaut who flew aboard Soyuz T-7 in 1982, becoming the second woman in space.
23 Facts About Svetlana Savitskaya
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Svetlana Savitskaya set several FAI world records as a pilot.
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Svetlana Savitskaya's father, Yevgeny Savitsky, was a highly decorated fighter pilot during the Second World War, which later brought him to the position of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Soviet Air Defense.
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Svetlana Savitskaya's father realized her unknown extracurricular activity upon the discovery of a parachute knife in his daughter's school bag.
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An experienced and highly educated female in the Soviet Space Program, Svetlana Savitskaya was reportedly an extremely serious, unbending, and steely woman.
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In 1979, Svetlana Savitskaya participated in the selection process for the second group of female cosmonauts.
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In December 1981, Svetlana Savitskaya prepared for her first space flight, a short-term flight to the space station Salyut 7.
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Svetlana Savitskaya held the position of research cosmonaut on this mission.
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Svetlana Savitskaya was assigned the orbital module of Soyuz T-7 as a private area, but slept as well as the men in the space station.
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In 1995, Svetlana Savitskaya gave an interview to Baltimore Sun journalist Clara Germani.
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Svetlana Savitskaya was chosen above other female cosmonauts due to the extensive flight experience and physical ability to perform the necessary operations in a heavy, bulky space suit for multiple hours.
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Svetlana Savitskaya participated in this mission under the title of flight engineer.
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On July 17,1984, Svetlana Savitskaya launched aboard Soyuz T-12, together with Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov and research cosmonaut Igor Volk.
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On July 25,1984, Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to spacewalk, conducting EVA outside the Salyut 7 space station for 3 hours and 35 minutes, during which she cut and welded metals in space along with her colleague Vladimir Dzhanibekov.
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Svetlana Savitskaya was chosen for this duty because she was the only experienced female cosmonaut still on active duty at the time.
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Svetlana Savitskaya was set to command Yekaterina Ivanova and Yelena Dobrokvashina, two younger female cosmonauts.
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Svetlana Savitskaya is married, with one child, a son Konstantin born in October 1986.
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From 1983 to 1994 Svetlana Savitskaya held a position of Deputy Head of NPO Energia.
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Svetlana Savitskaya did not welcome the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, noting that everything her parents had worked hard to build was destroyed almost overnight and she was "glad they did not live to see it".
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Svetlana Savitskaya retired in 1993 from the Russian Air Force with the rank of Major.
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Svetlana Savitskaya presently serves as Deputy Chair of the Committee on Defence, and is a member of the Coordination council presidium of the National Patriotic Union.
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Svetlana Savitskaya was sanctioned by the UK government in 2022 in relation to Russo-Ukrainian War.
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Svetlana Savitskaya was one of five cosmonauts selected to raise the Russian flag at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.