By 
June 17th, 2023
Valentina Tereshkova.Image credit: Roscosmos
Today marks 60 years since the first woman launched into space.
On June 16, 1963, the 26-year-old Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova flew the single-seat Vostok-6 spacecraft, an event now 60 years ago.
Some 20 years later, on June 18, 1983, American Sally Ride flew onboard a space shuttle on the STS-7 mission.
Statista has used data from World Space Flight to show which countries have seen the most female astronauts, cosmonauts, and taikonauts.
The U.S. takes the lead with 59, followed by seven Russians and then two Canadians, Chinese and Japanese nationals each.
Infographic credit: Statista
“A significant gap exists between the number of male and female astronauts/cosmonauts. A total of 325 men from the U.S. had become astronauts or orbital space tourists as of June 16, 2023,” reports Statista’s Anna Fleck. “The next highest numbers were 121 Russian men, 16 Chinese men, 14 Japanese men and 11 Canadian men.”
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Posted in Space News
