In an ongoing exhibition of Soviet spacecrafts and tools outside Russian Federation , entitled “Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age“, Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, shared her experiences during the mission, confirmed that she truly did not have a toothbrush during the three-day exploration, and that she had to used her fingers to clean her teeth.
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Science Museum director Ian Blatchford said it was one of the biggest ever exhibitions at the institution and political relations between the nations had made it challenging.
It took the powers 19 years to send another lady into space.
Among the Russian spacesuits on display is the Sokol suit worn by British cosmonaut Helen Sharman, the only artifact that is part of the exhibition that belongs to the museum. “Cosmonauts can keep their word like men and women – particularly women”.
The first woman in space today relived the drama of her historic mission at the launch of a major London exhibition. “Is there any valid reason why we shouldn’t be going for broke in space?”
She still feels a strong emotional attachment to the space craft in which she made history. “I’m coming to see you”, she recalled herself shouting during the spacecraft’s launching. “I had toothpaste, and water, and my hands”, she tells the Guardian. “The potentiality to think about the future collaboration of experts and young scientists who would want to fly to space are all created through this exhibition”.
On the importance of being the first woman in space she says it would be impossible not to feel something above the earth’s orbit like that. In her mission, Tereshkova was able to orbit around the planet for 48 times. She was launched on a one-way trip on Sputnik 2 in November 1957, and was said to have died painlessly in orbit about five days after blast-off.
Another of the exhibition’s featured relics is the 16-foot-tall (5 m) LK-3 lunar lander. It was kept secret until 1989. “These are the objects that with the help of which we conquered space, step by step”. It was brought from the Russian cosmonaut training school at Star City, near Moscow, to star in the London show.
In 1989 Krikalev became the last Soviet Union cosmonaut: he was actually in the space station when the world into which he was born in 1958 disintegrated.
Besides Valentina’s capsule, they include the robot probe Luna 9, the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the moon in 1966.
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The exhibition opens for the public on September 18, 2015 and will continue until March 13, 2016.
