Jul 25 1984
From The Space Library
Svetlana Savitskaya, a Soviet cosmonaut, today became the first woman to walk in space. Savitskaya, 36 years old, performed welding and soldering operations in the course of her walk in space, which lasted 3 hours and 35 minutes. She was also the first woman to make two spaceflights, her first being in August 1982 aboard the Soyuz T7, which like the current flight linked with the Salyut 7 space station for a brief period.
Savitskaya went into space July 18 along with Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Igor Volk aboard Soyuz T-12 and linked with the Salyut-7 space station, where three other cosmonauts had been in orbit for more than five months. Tass said that the main goal of the space walk was to test a new general-purpose hand- operated tool designed "to carry out complex technological operations." Dzhanibekov accompanied her on the space walk.
Savitskaya, along with Dzhanibekov and Volk, returned to Earth July 29 aboard Soyuz T-12. They landed in an area 140 kilometers southeast of Dzhezkazgan. The three were reported to be feeling fine after landing. Remaining aboard Salyut 7 were cosmonauts Leonid Kisim, Vladimir Solovyev, and Oleg Atkov.
Savitskaya was born in Moscow and graduated from the Sergo Ordzhonikidze Aviation Institute in Moscow. She had worked as an instructor pilot and, since 1976, had been a test pilot on 20 types of aircraft, Tass reported. (FBIS, Tass in English, July 17/84; FBIS, Tass in English, July 29/84; NY Times, July 26/84, A-24; W Post, July 26/84, A-31)
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